Snakeskin
by NileRivers94
Summary: Leo Black is back at Hogwarts for another year, more prepared than ever to face the onslaught of challenges that would soon come his way. As he navigates through dangers more deadly than he has ever faced before, Leo must come to terms with everything he did at the end of his first year, a feat that may prove impossible, even for him. Sequel to 'Lionheart'. Rest of Summary in Ch 1.
1. Chapter 1: Panic

**Leo Black is back at Hogwarts for another year, a bit different than who he had been when he started his first year. But more prepared than ever to face the onslaught of challenges that would soon come his way. As he navigates through dangers more deadly than he has ever faced before, Leo must come to terms with everything he did at the end of his first year, a feat that may prove impossible, even for him.**

**Sequel to 'Lionheart'.**

**Alt title: Chronicles of the Stars: The Spider, The Fraud, and The Chamber**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Panic**

_Things are so much worse now. Siri got in a lot of trouble for getting sorted into Gryffindor and for not attending the Christmas Ball. I told the truth. It was my fault that he hadn't come. I'd forced him not to. I told the hat to put him in Gryffindor. I got a taste of what that Muggle woman experienced. I would never wish it on anyone._

* * *

The sun rose steadily over the streets of London, falling over the shabby, run-down houses of Grimmauld Place. It fell over the large, empty lot between numbers eleven and thirteen, flooding the windows of the invisible house that stood there. In one of the rooms on the upper floors stood a boy in front of a covered mirror. The boy took a breath, reaching a hand out to pull the cover off before retracting it abruptly and turning away, readjusting the sleeves on his robes.

This was Leo Castor Black, and he was a wizard. He was blonde, with striking blue-grey eyes and broad shoulders. At the moment, he wore a black, crisp, three-piece suit with a fancy-dress robe to match. He had found the outfit in the bottom his Uncle Sirius's closet, and had been pleasantly surprised to find that they had similar builds, the robes fitting him perfectly. On the middle finger of his left hand rested an ornate silver ring embossed with his family's crest.

On his right forearm, hidden beneath his robes, was a wand holster that he had bought the previous day, thinking it would be a sound investment. He gave an experimental flick of his wrist, and a dark red wand slid into his hand. He gave it a small twirl before flattening his hand, allowing the wand to retract back into its holster.

He readjusted his tie before exiting his father's old room and walking down the stairs to the foyer. There stood a small, wrinkly old creature dressed in naught but a loincloth. This was Kreacher, Leo's house-elf. Or, well, he belonged to his family which by extension meant he belonged to him.

Kreacher held out the crook of his arm and Leo took it. At once, the room spun and felt as though they were being sucked through a small pipe. A moment later, they arrived in an empty storage room, where Leo released his arm and Kreacher vanished with a small '_crack_'. Leo exited the room, stepping into the Leaky Cauldron – a tavern that guarded the entrance to Diagon Alley, the wizarding shopping district.

Leo looked around before spotting who he was looking for and walking over, his face impassive.

"Good morning, Mr. Black," Dumbledore greeted him with a small incline of his head. "I trust you are doing well?"

"Better than Harry, I imagine," Leo replied in a bitter tone.

Leo's cousin, Harry, had been stuck at the Dursleys for the past two weeks, much to Leo's ever-growing irritation. He had visited him a few times and was pleased to find that, at the very least, Harry had his very own room that was not a cupboard. Granted, it was still quite small, but it was better than nothing.

"This is the deal you made, Mr. Black," Dumbledore reminded him before holding out his arm. "There's no time for second thoughts."

"I know," Leo replied, grabbing his arm.

They spun on the spot, twisting through the 'magical pipeline', as Leo liked to call it and arriving on the shoreline of a very large body of water. A single boat was there, barely large enough for two people. Leo immediately released his arm and walked over to it, facing forward on the boat. Dumbledore followed him, sitting directly across from him and taking out his wand. Leo tensed. Dumbledore tapped the side of the boat with the wand tip. It began moving forward.

"You did quite well for your first time Side-Along Apparating, Mr. Black," Dumbledore commented, peering at him over his half-moon spectacles. "That was your first time Apparating, was it not?"

"I've experienced worse than being sucked through a pipe..._sir_," Leo replied in a short tone.

"Have you discussed what happened under the trap door with anyone?"

"No, and I'm starting to regret telling you about it," Leo responded. "I'd prefer if we didn't talk for the remainder of the trip, sir."

Dumbledore acquiesced to his request and remained silent, observing him all the while. Eventually, they reached the rocky shore of a small island, where only a very tall, very large building stood, cloaked black figures swirling around it. As they reached the rocky shore, a man stood there, waiting for them. He had rumpled grey hair and an anxious expression, and was wearing a strange mixture of clothes: a pinstriped suit, a scarlet tie, a long black cloak, and pointed purple boots. Under his arm, he carried a lime-green bowler hat.

_If anyone needs fashion advice, it's him. _Leo thought dryly.

"Cornelius, this is Mr. Leo Black," Dumbledore informed the man as the duo stepped out of the boat. "Mr. Black, this is Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic."

Leo stuck out his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said in a polite tone.

"Yes, quite," Fudge replied, shaking Leo's hand. "I hope you understand that this is most irregular, Mr. Black. If word of this were to reach the public -"

"It won't," Leo interrupted him, much to the Minister's surprise. "I'd be crucified just as badly as you would."

"Yes, well, very good then," Fudge stammered.

He led the way toward the large building, Leo following close behind with Dumbledore in the rear. They walked through the front door and Leo instantly felt a chill surround him as the cloaked figures he had seen in the sky floated through the halls of the building. Their heads followed Leo as he walked, but Leo ignored them and the distant screams he heard and pressed on. Fudge led them to a door and opened it, allowing Leo to walk in.

The room was empty and bare, with only two chairs in it. One of them was covered in chains. Leo sat in the other chair, crossing his left leg over his knee and taking a deep, calming breath. He then waved a hand and Fudge nodded, waving his hand outside the door. Two men walked through it, dragging a third between them.

A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. It was Sirius Black.

Sirius' eyes glimmered in surprise as he spotted Leo sitting in the room.

"Leo?" he croaked.

"Uncle Sirius," Leo inclined his head. "I'd hug you, but -"

"I'm a criminal," Sirius grimaced.

"I was going to say 'you smell funny', but that works too."

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh at this. The corners of Leo's mouth twitched upward as he felt mild amusement for the first time in weeks. Leo made a gesture with his hand and the two guards deposited Sirius in the other chair. Chains shot up, wrapping themselves firmly around him and preventing him from moving. Leo made another gesture with his hand and everyone left, leaving them alone.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius questioned.

"I'd have thought that would be obvious," Leo rolled his eyes. "I'm here to visit you, ya knobhead."

"Yes, but – how?"

"I took a boat."

"You know what I mean."

Leo was silent for a moment before saying, "I made a deal with Dumbledore. I don't kidnap Harry before our birthday in exchange for an unmonitored talk with you."

"And Dumbledore agreed to that?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"I didn't give him much choice in the matter," Leo shrugged.

"So, where've you been living, if not with Harry?" Sirius questioned. Leo merely lifted his left hand, showing off his ring as he moved his bangs out of his face. "I see... for how long?"

"Since last summer. Week from today, actually," Leo replied, scratching his chin in thought.

Sirius gave another bark-like laugh.

"Running away from home at the tender age of ten? The hat certainly put you in the right house!" Sirius grinned broadly at him.

Leo looked down at his hands, fidgeting with them nervously.

"Yeah... bang-up job..."

Sirius frowned at this.

"Leo, look at me."

Leo lifted his head, and Sirius scrutinized him, really looking at him for the first time. Shadows hung under his eyes from many nights of no sleep. A tense, wary expression was etched into his normally jovial face. His eyes were no longer warm and welcoming, but haunted and very, very tired.

"What happened?" he whispered.

Leo looked away, not wanting to talk about it.

"You saw someone die, didn't you?"

Leo's head jerked up and he stared at Sirius incredulously.

"How -?"

"I recognize the look," Sirius replied, trying to lean back in his chair but unable to. "Cas wore it when he came back to Hogwarts after Christmas Holiday in our first year. He saw a Muggle woman get tortured and killed, and it haunted him for years to come. The sporadic Cruciatus Curses he got at home didn't help matters."

Leo's hands clenched. His mind was pulled back to that night beneath the trap door. The chessboard. The flaming door. The mirror room. The pain, the unbearable agony that had consumed him. It was too much. The pain wouldn't stop. It would never stop. He could never escape -

"Leo! Leo! Look at me!" Sirius commanded.

Leo looked at him, hands trembling as he struggled to breathe.

"I need you to inhale for me – that's it, take a nice, deep breath," Sirius instructed in a surprisingly calm tone. "Now, hold it for a moment and then slowly release it – there you go. Again. In. Hold. And out."

Sirius repeated this mantra over and over again until Leo felt he could breathe on his own. He looked down at his hands. They had stopped most of their trembling. He looked back at Sirius, relief and gratefulness showing in eyes in equal measure.

"How did you know how to do that?" he finally asked.

"Cas had panic attacks all the time up until our third year. They became less frequent after a nasty run-in with a few dementors in Hogsmeade," Sirius shrugged. He was silent for a moment, pursing his lips in thought. "I won't ask you what happened or what you saw – you're clearly not ready to talk about it. But, when you are, I want you to know you can always talk to me, kiddo."

"Thanks, Uncle Siri," Leo replied, giving him a watery smile.

* * *

As Leo entered his room later that night, Apollo – his barn owl – gave a greeting 'hoot' before flying down to perch on his shoulder. Leo rubbed the side of his head tiredly before watching as he took off out the open window above his bed. He walked over to his bed, picking up the three letters that rested there. One was an invitation from the Weasleys to stay over for the month of August. The second was an invite to a party at the Malfoy's manor in Wiltshire next weekend. The last was a letter from Sirius. Leo had read it many times and now had it memorized:

_Leo,_

_Relax. Take a breath, kiddo. You chased off a very powerful wizard – and that's no small feat! Facing Voldemort is scary, I know. Knowing that he's after you is even more terrifying. It's alright to be afraid, I get scared all the time. Your letter terrified me more than I can even describe._

_You're a brave kid, Leo. Being afraid doesn't change that._

_I'm always here if you need me._

_Love,_

_Uncle Siri_

* * *

**A/N: Apologies for not posting this past Friday. I've been really stressed with work and I've had a migraine all weekend. **


	2. Chapter 2: Den of Serpents

**Chapter 2: Den of Serpents**

_I've taken to jogging now. I can't sleep, so I run a few blocks around the neighborhood in the wee hours of the morning and return home before anyone wakes up. It doesn't help much – but it's something I can do, something I can control. I need that._

* * *

_"Try to run away again, Black, and I'll keep you under much longer."_

Leo turned over with a groan.

_"You and I both know what you are, boy. Now, open the door unless you want to experience the Cruciatus Curse the same way the Longbottoms did."_

Another groan as he turned to the other side, panting heavily.

_"You don't have it in you, boy!" Quirrell snarled._

_"That's where you're wrong," Leo corrected him, tightening his grip on his wand. "Incendio Tria."_

_Blue flames shot forth from his wand, engulfing Quirrell as he screamed in agony._

Leo shot up in his bed, body dripping with sweat as he panted heavily. He ran a hand over his face before yanking the covers off of himself and swinging his legs off the bed. He grabbed his wand off his nightstand, muttering the Wand Lighting Charm before exiting his room and going down the stairs.

He made his way to the second floor, opening up a pair of double doors and tapping the wall with his wand as he strode into the room. The gas lamps ignited, revealing a room full of various equipment. There were a few practice dummies standing in the middle of the room for him to practice magic on. A punching bag hung in each of the room's four corners and a set of weights stood off to the side of the room. In one corner of the room sat several broken mirrors, some streaked with red and permanently stained.

Leo walked toward the training dummies and raised his wand before firing off a Knockback Jinx. He quickly followed it up with a Severing Charm and a few_ Incendios_ for good measure. He tried out a few second-year spells – the Tickling Charm, the Disarming Charm, etc. - and even tried out a more advanced spell called _Depulso_. That one turned out to be one of his favorites, owing to the fact that it sent people and objects flying away from him and left him some breathing room.

After about an hour of firing off spells, Leo was bent over, hands on his knees, sweating profusely and panting. He used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe his forehead before standing upright, turning around, and exiting the room. He headed back upstairs, collected some clothes from his room, and headed off to the bathroom to shower. Once he was cleaned and changed, he put his dirty clothes in the laundry bin located in the bathroom and headed down toward the kitchen.

There, Kreacher was busy setting out a plate of scrambled eggs and some toast before running over and grabbing the whistling tea kettle from the stove. As Leo sat down, Kreacher poured him a cup of tea before bustling around and cleaning up the kitchen.

"Kreacher has picked up Master Leo's dress robes from the shop. Kreacher has put them in the drawing room," the house-elf bowed.

"Thanks, Kreacher," Leo replied, sipping his tea.

Kreacher bowed again before finishing up with the kitchen and disappearing with a loud '_crack_!' Leo looked up at the large clock in the kitchen, which informed him that it was six in the morning. _Malfoy's party doesn't start until two, so I've still got plenty of time._ Leo finished up his breakfast quickly before going upstairs and getting started on the summer assignments he had been putting off.

It was ten by the time he finished, and he had run out of things to do. He set about finding menial tasks to complete. He dusted his room/his father's old room since Castor Black had put up wards that prevented unauthorized people and creatures from entering. Kreacher, apparently, hadn't made the cut. He perused old letters written to his father again and flipped through old journal entries from before his second year.

When one rolled around, he proceeded to get dressed and ready to head out, making sure his holster and wand were securely fastened and mentally running over a list of spells he may need. He was a lion walking into a den of serpents, after all. At ten to two, he had Kreacher Apparate him and they landed in a country lane. A pair of wrought-iron gates lay at the foot of what looked like a long drive.

Leo shook the bars as Kreacher disappeared, whipping his hands away quickly as he felt movement. The iron was contorting, twisting itself out of the abstract furls and coils into a frightening face, which spoke in a clanging, echoing voice: "State your purpose!"

"Leo Black. Here for the party," Leo stated in a bored tone.

The gates swung open.

Leo made his way through the gates and up the drive, between high hedges that muffled his footsteps. He saw a ghostly white shape above him and realized it was an albino peacock. A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge, a fountain was playing. Gravel crackled beneath his feet as Leo languidly walked toward the front door, which swung inward at his approach, though nobody had visibly opened it.

The hallway was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. There, standing in the middle of the hallway was a man with a pale, pointed face, pale blond hair, and cold grey eyes. He held a walking stick with a snake head that made Leo feel as though he should be wary of whatever this man was capable of.

"Ah, you must be the infamous Leo Black," the man drawled, striding towards him. "Draco has told me so much about you. He seems to hold a sort of... admiration for you, in fact."

"Yeah, I have that effect on people," Leo shrugged, growing tenser as the man grew closer. "I'm assuming you're his father? Lucius, right?"

"Indeed, I am," Lucius inclined his head, stopping mere feet from him. "What do you think of the manor? Rather more... _elegant_ than you are used to, I imagine."

"The albino peacocks are a bit much," Leo replied in a dry tone, prepared to whip out his wand at any second.

Lucius seemed amused by this.

"If you continue down the hall and take the first set of double doors on your right, you will find the rest of your schoolmates, Black. We shall talk later."

Lucius then gave another incline of his head before turning around and walking away, his long hair flowing behind him. _That is, without a doubt, the most effeminate man I have ever met._ Leo decided before making his way down the hall, stopping at the first set of doors on his right. He took a deep breath before opening them. There stood all the Slytherins from his year, as well as some from the upper years that he hadn't really talked to. Draco was the first to approach him.

"I didn't think you'd come, Black," Draco commented in a soft voice.

"Wanted to make sure you were alright, Draco," Leo shrugged, his lips twitching upward slightly at Draco's confused look.

"Why wouldn't I be?" the pale blonde inquired.

"You're not exactly the same person you were when you left home after Christmas holidays. Your father doesn't seem like the type of person who would tolerate and support that."

Draco inclined his head in agreement as Blaise Zabini strode up.

"Didn't realize they were allowing riffraff like you in now, Black," Zabini sneered, looking Leo over.

"Well, hey, if they'll let you in, they'll let anyone in...er..." Leo frowned and pretended to think. "Well, now this is awkward. I have no idea who you are. Guess you're just that forgettable."

Zabini's face turned dark as the Slytherins around him snickered. Zabini's hand reached for the pocket of his robes, and Leo instinctively flicked his wrist, pointing his wand at Zabini's throat. The room went quiet. Zabini's throat bobbed as he stared down at Leo's wand, his hand still hovering near his robes.

"You don't have it in you, Black," Zabini tried to bluff.

_"You don't have it in you, boy!"_

Leo's grip tightened as his eyes narrowed, the color reminiscent of ice.

"Trust me. I have it in me," Leo replied, swinging his left fist into Zabini's face and knocking him to the ground. "You're just not worth it."

Leo then turned and walked away with a dramatic flourish of his robes, feeling as though he might not be welcome at the Malfoy house after punching out one of their guests. Draco grabbed his arm before he left, meeting his gaze silently before releasing him and allowing him to continue on his way.

He made his way out the hall, down the driveway, and out the gates, where he briefly debated calling for Kreacher to take him home. Deciding that he didn't quite want to return to the doom and gloom of Grimmauld quite yet, Leo threw out his right arm, which was still clutching his wand.

There was a deafening BANG and, a second later, a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights screeched to a halt right in front of Leo. They belonged to a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus.

A conductor in a purple uniform leaped out of the bus and began to speak loudly, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this afternoon -"

"How much to get to London?" Leo cut him off.

Stan was startled by his abruptness but responded anyway with, "Eleven Sickles, but for firteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen -"

Leo reached into his pocket and handed him a single Galleon.

"Keep the change," Leo told him, jumping onto the bus.

The inside was crammed with an assortment of mismatched chairs grouped haphazardly around windows. Some of these appeared to have fallen over when the bus stopped abruptly in front of Malfoy Manor; a few witches and wizards were still getting to their feet, grumbling.

Leo took his seat as Stan boarded the bus. With another loud BANG it took off, and Leo had to grab onto a candle bracket to keep from falling over.

"Right then, Mr...?" Stan trailed off, waiting for Leo to fill in his name.

"Evans."

Leo had decided not too long ago to use a different last name when out in the Wizarding World. 'Black' drew too much attention, prompting him to use his mother's maiden name instead.

"Right, Mr. Evans," Stan clapped his hands. "Whereabouts in London?"

"Leaky Cauldron."

"Righto," said Stan. "'Old tight, then."

BANG. They were thundering along Charing Cross Road. Leo sat up and watched buildings and benches squeezing themselves out of the Knight Bus's way. The driver suddenly slammed on the brakes and the Knight Bus skidded to a halt in front of a small and shabby-looking pub, the Leaky Cauldron.

"Thanks," Leo said before he jumped down the steps.

He walked away from the bus toward the building, returning his wand to his holster and loosening the tie around his neck in one fluid motion. He entered the pub and strode toward the bar, where Tom, a wizened, toothless wizard worked.

"Mr. Evans," Tom bowed his head. "The usual I presume?"

"Yeah, and keep 'em coming, Tom. Its been one of those days," Leo sighed, slapping a few Galleons on the bar and walking over to an empty table off in the corner.

Not long after he sat down, Tom brought over what would be the first of many butterbeers - a popular wizarding beverage that tasted a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch. Leo wasn't overly fond of the flavor, but it was the only drink with any sort of alcoholic content that he could get away with drinking.

Leo stayed at the table for quite some time, quietly sipping butterbeer after butterbeer until he started amassing an impressive collection of bottles. He was gunning for at least seven this time 'round, hoping to surpass his previous record of six and a half - he had gotten a stomachache and had to quit.

"Bit early in life to start drinking, isn't it?" questioned an amused voice behind him.

"Mate, when you've had the month I've had, you discover that it's never too early to start drinking," Leo replied in a dry tone, gulping down his fifth bottle and grabbing a sixth.

"I'd wager I've had a worse month than you," the stranger continued.

"Really now?" Leo raised an eyebrow, turning in his seat to look at the stranger.

The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with grey. His face was pale and lined, with scars cutting across his face and soft green eyes.

Leo found himself curious as to where the scars had come from and would bet that – had it been any other month – the stranger would most likely have won his wager. Unfortunately for him, Leo was confident he had everyone beat.

"Have you also humiliated an evil dark wizard and now have to worry about possible revenge schemes and/or assassination attempts?" Leo inquired.

The stranger gave a small snort of amusement.

"Not this month, no," he responded before gesturing to the chair across from Leo. "May I?"

Leo gave a small shrug and stared at the man as he sat down. He observed the man carefully for a moment, a sense of familiarity nagging at him the longer he stared at the man._ I know I've seen him before... but where?_ After a second of thought, he shrugged, deciding that he must have just seen him during one of his many forays to the Leaky Cauldron.

"You can ask, you know," the man said, misconstruing Leo's look and gesturing at the scars on his face. "I don't bite."

Leo thought he detected a faint trace of amusement in the man's voice at the last line, though he couldn't fathom why.

"Alright - what happened to your face?" Leo asked as bluntly as possible.

"Dragon."

"If you're going to lie, at least make it believable. Say it was a rabbit or a dog or something."

"I figured a dragon would pique your interest more," the man replied with a small smile. "Rabbits and dogs don't make for quite as fascinating a tale as a dragon."

"Dunno about that. I've got a few interesting stories about dogs, if you've got the time, Mr...?" Leo trailed off, taking a sip of his drink.

"Lupin. Remus Lupin -"

Leo choked on his drink, coughing loudly and prompting Remus to pat him vigorously on the back.

"_Remy_?" Leo said when he could breathe.

Remus froze, his hand hovering above Leo's back in shock.

"How do you know that name?" Remus asked in a low voice, his face appearing stricken.

"My dad – he mentioned you in a letter he left me," Leo shifted in his seat as Remus slowly sunk back in his seat. "He said I could trust you."

Remus closed his eyes, turning his face upward and mumbling a single word that Leo couldn't quite make out. He stayed like this for a few moments before opening his eyes and turning back toward Leo, a much warmer smile on his face this time.

"It's been quite some time since I've seen you, Leo," Remus finally said. "Even so, I should have recognized you – you have your father's eyes."

"Not sure how I feel about some bloke I essentially just met staring at my eyes."

"And his sense of humor," Remus chuckled.

"I wasn't aware he had one of those," Leo remarked, sipping his butterbeer. "Most people make him out to be a quiet, serious person. Sounded a bit depressed too, to be perfectly honest."

Remus was quiet for a moment.

"Cas is – was – a very complicated person. He had many burdens thrust upon him from a young age and experienced hardships no person should have to experience." Leo stared down at his butterbeer, missing Remus's thoughtful expression. "Despite this, he tried his hardest to stay positive and find the good in everything – in people. He used to say that, even if he couldn't laugh or smile, at least he could get people to do it for him."

"He sounds more like a philosopher every time I hear about him," Leo stated in a dry tone.

Remus chuckled.

"James made a similar comment once," he smiled. "Your mother found it to be an endearing quality – one of many."

"Can you tell me about her?" Leo asked, a feeling of excitement bubbling up in his chest. "Much as enjoy hearing about my dad from – literally – everyone, I never hear anything about my mum."

"Not surprising. Rose was a very shy and private person – often keeping to herself and any close friends she made. She wasn't one to make waves and preferred to stay away from conflict. Most importantly, she was a very loving and kind person who brought smiles to those around her," Remus informed him with a gentle smile.

Leo rolled the butterbeer between his hands thoughtfully before pushing it away and asking Remus for more stories of his parents – which he happily obliged. The two talked for hours, the remaining butterbeers left untouched as they conversed heavily – Leo even manage to smile once or twice. By the time the two parted – with the promise to keep in contact with one another – Leo's spirits were higher than they had been in weeks.

* * *

_Uncle Siri,_

_I ran into Remus today. He was just as my father had described – kind, warm, wise – and I felt better than I have in weeks after talking to him... I didn't talk to him about what happened – about the trap door that Fluffy was guarding or Quirrell or anything. You're right, I'm not ready yet._

_But I'm trying to be._

_Love,_

_Leo_

_P.S.: You know what might help immensely? Telling me how to track down Pettigrew._


	3. Chapter 3: The Burrow

**Chapter 3: The Burrow**

_I went to a Muggle music festival with Lily and Rose last night. We sang and danced and laughed all night long. It's been quite some time since I laughed and smiled like that and – for the first time since before Christmas – I didn't have any nightmares when I slept. I've decided that I'm going to tell Siri what happened tomorrow. Keeping it to myself isn't doing me any good. I'm ready._

* * *

Leo raised his hand, knocking on the door before stepping back, rocking on his heels. The door swung open a minute later, revealing a large and neckless man with an enormous black mustache. The man's face turned red at Leo's appearance, and he tried to slam the door in his face when it was suddenly blocked by Leo's hand, who refused to let it budge.

"I'm here for Harry," Leo said simply.

"We're busy, boy. You should've come earlier -"

"I had a house to decorate, you fat oaf. Now, let me see Harry," Leo demanded.

It was the thirty-first of July, the day of Leo and Harry's twelfth birthday. Leo had spent all day running about – decorating the kitchen, buying presents, and getting the ingredients Kreacher would need to make them a delicious feast. It had taken him all day to get everything done, so Leo wasn't able to retrieve his cousin until ten past eight that night.

"I don't have to let you -"

"I have a wand – don't make me use it."

Vernon's face paled considerably at this and he looked over his shoulder to ensure that no one else was around. He then opened the door wider, telling Leo to be silent and that Harry was upstairs. He told Leo that he couldn't leave until his house-guests had gone – he had a big promotion on the line. Normally, Leo would have taken this opportunity to deliberately sabotage Vernon, but he didn't want Harry to have to deal with the aftermath considering he'd have to spend the first half of every summer with them.

Leo walked past Vernon into the house, tiptoeing up the stairs and making it to Harry's room. He opened the door and was surprised to find that he wasn't alone. There was a house-elf with him. He had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. Leo would even go so far as to say that he was adorable.

"...And you are?" Leo finally said, closing the door behind him.

"Dobby, sir, Dobby the house-elf," the house-elf bowed.

"Pleasure to meet you, Dobby," Leo gave a flourishing bow in return. "I'm Leo, Leo the human. That's Harry, Harry the beardless dwarf."

Harry chucked a pillow at him.

"So, what brings you to this over-sized shed the Dursleys call a home, Dobby? Did your family send you?" Leo inquired, walking over and flopping onto Harry's bed.

"No, sir. Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, to warn him, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later..._Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts_."

There was a silence broken only by the chink of knives and forks from downstairs and the distant rumble of Vernon's voice. Leo simply stared at Dobby as though he had lost his marbles.

"W-what?" Harry stammered. "But I've got to go back — term starts on September first. It's all that's keeping me going. You don't know what it's like here. I don't _belong_ here. I belong in your world — at Hogwarts."

"No, no, no," squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped. "Harry Potter must stay where he is safe. He is too great, too good, to lose. If Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger."

"Oh, so just a regular school year then?" Leo remarked.

"Leo is not understanding. There is a plot. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," whispered Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. "Dobby has known it for months, sir. Harry Potter must not put himself in peril. He is too important, sir!"

"... This still sounds an awful lot like your average Hogwarts school year."

"What terrible things?" said Harry, getting to the meat of the issue. "Who's plotting them?"

Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged his head frantically against the wall. Leo wasn't sure whether he should laugh or not.

"Alright!" cried Harry, grabbing the elf's arm to stop him. "You can't tell me. I understand. But why are you warning us? Hang on — this hasn't got anything to do with Vol — sorry — with You-Know-Who, has it? You could just shake or nod," he added hastily as Dobby's head tilted worryingly close to the wall again.

"I sincerely hope not, otherwise I might just bunk off school altogether," Leo stated, lifting his head up worriedly and awaiting Dobby's response.

Slowly, Dobby shook his head.

"Not — not _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_, sir —"

Leo relaxed at this.

But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give Harry and Leo a hint. The two, however, were completely lost.

"He hasn't got a brother, has he?"

"Or an equally hideous sister?"

Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever.

"Well then, I can't think who else would have a chance of making horrible things happen at Hogwarts," said Harry. "I mean, there's Dumbledore, for one thing —"

"Dumbledore didn't exactly do much to stop anything happening last year, Harry. We did, not him," Leo interrupted him angrily. "I wouldn't bet all my cards – or anything, really – on him being much use if the school really is in danger."

Dobby seemed inclined to agree with him.

"There are powers Dumbledore doesn't...powers no decent wizard..."

And before either of the cousins could stop him, Dobby bounded off the bed, seized Harry's desk lamp, and started beating himself around the head with earsplitting yelps.

A sudden silence fell downstairs. Two seconds later Harry and Leo heard Vernon coming into the hall, calling, "Dudley must have left his television on again, the little tyke!"

"Quick! In the closet!" hissed Harry, stuffing Dobby in, shutting the door, and flinging himself onto his chair just as the door handle turned.

"What — the —_devil_ — are — you — doing?" said Vernon through gritted teeth, his face horribly close to Harry's, much to Leo's annoyance. "You've just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke... One more sound and you'll wish you'd never been born, boy!"

He stomped flat-footed from the room.

"Wanker," Leo huffed. "Didn't even give me a chance to make a witty remark or call him racist."

Harry rolled his eyes as he let Dobby out of the closet.

"See what it's like here?" he said. "See why I've got to go back to Hogwarts? It's the only place I've got — well, I think I've got friends."

"Friends who don't even _write_ to Harry Potter?" said Dobby slyly.

"I expect they've just been — wait a minute," said Harry, frowning. "How do you know my friends haven't been writing to me?"

"Ooo, busted," Leo gave a low whistle.

Dobby shuffled his feet.

"Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best —"

"_Have you been stopping my letters_?"

"Dobby has them here, sir," said the elf. Stepping nimbly out of Harry's reach, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing.

Dobby blinked anxiously up at Harry.

"Harry Potter mustn't be angry...Dobby hoped...if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him...Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir..."

"...You do realize that that would only motivate him to go more, right?" Leo questioned, beginning to understand that the elf wasn't quite in his right mind. "At the very least to figure out what the – Jesus!"

Harry had lunged for the letters, but Dobby jumped out of reach.

"Harry Potter will have them, sir, if he gives Dobby his word that he will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!"

"No," said Harry angrily. "Give me my friends' letters!"

"Then Harry Potter leaves Dobby no choice," said the elf sadly.

Before Harry or Leo could move, Dobby had darted to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and sprinted down the stairs. The two exchanged a look before quietly running after him and down the stairs, jumping the last six steps, and landing catlike on the hall carpet, looking around for Dobby. From the dining room, he heard Vernon saying, "...tell Petunia that very funny story about those American plumbers, Mr. Mason. She's been dying to hear..."

_And now they're insulting Americans. The Dursleys are just truly awful people._ Leo shook his head before he and Harry ran up the hall into the kitchen.

There they saw a pudding, a mountain of cream and sugared violets, floating up near the ceiling. On top of a cupboard in the corner crouched Dobby.

"No," croaked Harry.

"Please...they'll kill me..."

"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school —"

"Dobby...please..."

"Say it, sir —"

"I can't —"

Dobby gave him a tragic look.

"Then Dobby must do it, sir, for Harry Potter's own good."

The pudding fell to the floor with a heart-stopping crash. Cream splattered the windows and walls as the dish shattered. With a crack like a whip, Dobby vanished.

There were screams from the dining room and Vernon burst into the kitchen to find Harry and Leo covered from head to foot in pudding. Leo took that moment to swipe a finger over Harry's cheek, grabbing a large glob of pudding and stuffing it in his mouth. He smacked his lips a few times.

"That's actually not too bad," he commented before turning to Vernon. "Very fruity – little heavy on the margarine, though."

At first, it looked as though Vernon would manage to gloss the whole thing over. ("Just our nephews — very disturbed — meeting strangers upsets them, so we kept them upstairs...") He shooed the shocked Masons back into the dining room and handed Harry a mop and Leo a broom. He was half-tempted to ride it around the dining room, just to freak everyone out.

Vernon might still have been able to make his deal — if it hadn't been for the owl.

Petunia was just passing around a box of after-dinner mints when a huge barn owl swooped through the dining room window, dropped a letter on Mrs. Mason's head, and swooped out again. Mrs. Mason screamed like a banshee and ran from the house shouting about lunatics. Mr. Mason stayed just long enough to tell the Dursleys that his wife was mortally afraid of birds of all shapes and sizes, and to ask whether this was their idea of a joke. Leo hadn't laughed that hard in months.

Harry stood in the kitchen, clutching the mop for support, as Vernon advanced on him, a demonic glint in his tiny eyes. Leo prepared himself to intervene in case things got physical.

"Read it!" he hissed evilly, brandishing the letter the owl had delivered. "Go on — read it!"

Harry took it, and Leo looked over his shoulder to read:

_Dear Mr. Potter, _

_We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine. _

_As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school. (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C). _

_We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy. _

_Enjoy your holidays! _

_Yours sincerely, _

_Mafalda Hopkirk _

_IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE_

_Ministry of Magic_

Leo exchanged a look with Harry.

"Well, I think now's as good a time as any to skedaddle. Why don't you go grab your things and we can -"

"Not so fast, boy!" Vernon roared. "You two aren't going anywhere! Not to that bloody circus you call a school and certainly not anywhere among those freaks! You're going to be locked up like you deserve -"

Leo's wand was suddenly in his face.

"Try it, see what happens," Leo dared him.

"Your threats won't work on me, boy. If you use magic, they'll expel you both!" Vernon laughed gleefully.

Leo took a moment to consider this.

"Fair point," he conceded before shouting, "Kreacher!"

There was a loud crack, and the house-elf appeared, with a snout for a nose, giant bat's ears, and enormous bloodshot eyes, with his only covering being grimy rags, he was quite a sight. Petunia let out a hair-raising shriek; nothing this filthy had entered her house in living memory. Dudley tried running from the room in fright, but only managed to run into the wall and fall backward on his fat arse.

Vernon bellowed, "What the _hell_ is that?"

"Kreacher, be a dear and fetch Harry's things and take them home, would you?" Leo smiled gleefully at the Dursleys' horrified expressions. "Just make sure you don't set off the Trace while you do so, alright?"

"Yes, Master Leo," Kreacher bowed before turning back to Harry. "The Potter brat must show Kreacher where to go."

"Oh, er, alright," Harry replied awkwardly before leading the house-elf out of the kitchen.

Leo retracted his wand and stepped back a pace, folding his hands behind his back and humming to himself. So far, the night was not going as he had planned – which he was actually alright with. It had been endlessly entertaining at the Dursleys to the point where Leo almost missed living here. Almost.

Harry returned minutes later with Kreacher in tow, who informed him that Harry's things had been sent to the house. Leo nodded before ordering him to take himself and Harry home. Kreacher grabbed both their arms and Apparated them into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, where Harry's eyes widened at all the food and the mountain of presents awaiting him.

"Happy Birthday, Harry," Leo grinned before being abruptly engulfed in a hug.

"Thanks, Leo. I promise I'll get you something when we get back to Diagon Alley -"

"Don't sweat it, Harry. You're all the present I need."

* * *

Three days later found Harry and Leo with their trunks and – in Harry's case, at least – owl. They were preparing for Kreacher to Apparate them to the Burrow, where they would spend the rest of their summer surrounded by the redheads. Leo and Harry both took firm holds of their belongings as Kreacher grabbed their arms and Apparated them in front of a tumbledown garage in a small yard, and Harry and Leo got their first glimpse at the Weasley home.

It looked as though it had once been a large stone pigpen, but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as though it were held up by magic (which Leo reminded himself, it probably was). Four or five chimneys were perched on top of the red roof. A lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance read, THE BURROW. Around the front door lay a jumble of rubber boots and a very rusty cauldron. Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way around the yard.

"Wicked," they both breathed as Kreacher vanished.

Mrs. Weasley - a short, plump, kind-faced woman - was marching across the yard towards them, scattering chickens. She stopped in front of them, a warm smile on her face.

"I'm very pleased to see you, both," she said. "Come in and have some breakfast."

The kitchen was small and rather cramped. There was a scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the middle, which the boys sat down at, looking around.

The clock on the wall opposite them had only one hand and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were things like _Time to make tea_, _Time to feed the chickens_, and _You're late_. Books were stacked three deep on the mantelpiece, books with titles like _Charm Your Own Cheese, Enchantment in Baking,_ and _One Minute Feasts — It's Magic!_ An old radio next to the sink just announced that coming up was "Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck."

Mrs. Weasley was tipping healthy servings of sausage and fried eggs on their plates just as the Weasleys started descending the stairs with various yawns. Ron's face immediately brightened upon spotting Harry, and Fred and George exchanged looks of mischief-fueled glee when they noticed Leo was with him. Immediately, they pounced on him. Literally.

Leo shrieked and scrambled out from beneath them, running out the door to the kitchen with the twins in hot pursuit. They chased him around the house a few times before Leo managed to lose them and make his way back to the kitchen. He strolled back to his seat and began to eat his eggs as though nothing had happened. Fred and George appeared a few minutes later and did the same, the three of them receiving confused looks from everyone in the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" Ron finally asked.

"What was all what about?" Leo replied, raising an eyebrow as he feigned curiosity.

"You - and Fred and George – chasing each other round -"

"Leo, what's he on about?" Fred questioned, looking at the blonde.

"I haven't the faintest idea. George?"

"I think our dear brother must have hit his head or something – must be delirious, the poor boy," George shook his head and sighed heavily.

Fred and Leo both imitated him, leaving Ron to throw his hands up in defeat as Harry struggled to smother his laughter. At that moment there was a diversion in the form of a small, redheaded figure in a long nightdress, who appeared in the kitchen, gave a small squeal, and ran out again.

"Ginny," said Ron in an undertone to Harry. "My sister. She's been talking about you all summer."

"Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry," Fred said with a grin.

"No one ever wants my autograph," Leo fake pouted.

"That's because you're nutters, mate," George explained.

"Oh yeah."

Nothing more was said until all four plates were clean, which took a surprisingly short time. After which, Mrs. Weasley told her sons to de-gnome the garden. Whatever that meant. Harry volunteered himself and Leo to help. The blonde was currently plotting his revenge.

"That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work," said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject —"

And she pulled a heavy book from the stack on the mantelpiece. George groaned.

"Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden —"

Leo looked at the cover of Mrs. Weasley's book. Written across it in fancy gold letters were the words _Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests_. There was a big photograph on the front of an adequate-looking (at least, in Leo's opinion) wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. As always in the wizarding world, the photograph was moving; the wizard, who Leo supposed was Gilderoy Lockhart, kept winking cheekily up at them all. Mrs. Weasley beamed down at him. Leo suppressed the urge to gag.

"Oh, he is marvelous," she said. "He knows his household pests, all right, it's a wonderful book..."

"Mum _fancies_ him," said Fred, in a very audible whisper.

"Don't be so ridiculous, Fred," said Mrs. Weasley, her cheeks rather pink. "Alright, if you think you know better than Lockhart, you can go and get on with it, and woe betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come out to inspect it."

Yawning and grumbling, the Weasleys slouched outside with Harry and a very reluctant Leo behind them. The garden was large - full of weeds and uncut grass. There were gnarled trees all around the walls, plants spilling from every flower bed, and a big green pond full of frogs.

"Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," Harry told Ron they crossed the lawn.

"Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron, bent double with his head in a peony bush, "like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods..."

"Think you've got the two mixed up, mate. Santa doesn't fish," Leo informed him. "Much too cold for that."

There was a violent scuffling noise, the peony bush shuddered, and Ron straightened up. "This is a gnome," he said grimly.

"Gerroff me! Gerroff me!" squealed the gnome.

It was certainly nothing like Santa Claus. It was small and leathery looking, with a large, knobby, bald head exactly like a potato. Ron held it at arm's length as it kicked out at him with its horny little feet; he grasped it around the ankles and turned it upside down.

"This is what you have to do," he said. He raised the gnome above his head ("Gerroff me!") and started to swing it in great circles like a lasso. Seeing the shocked look on Harry's face, Ron added, "It doesn't hurt them —you've just got to make them really dizzy so they can't find their way back to the gnome holes."

He let go of the gnome's ankles: It flew twenty feet into the air and landed with a thud in the field over the hedge.

"Pitiful," said Fred. "I bet I can get mine beyond that stump."

"Bet I can hit someone with mine," Leo replied.

"I'm not taking that bet."

Leo ended up lobbing a gnome at Harry, who barely managed to duck it in time. George wasn't so lucky. The gnome hit him square in the back of the head, prompting him to grab his own gnome and chuck it at Leo, who ducked and grinned when it hit Ron. It was chaos from that point on. Gnomes were flung all over the yard, very few making it out into the field where they were supposed to go.

Mrs. Weasley came out after a few minutes of non-stop shouting and screaming and scolded them all before walking back into the house. They quickly went back to work, throwing the gnomes into the field in a somewhat more subdued manner.

"They'll be back," said Ron as they watched the gnomes disappear into the hedge on the other side of the field. "They love it here...Dad's too soft with them; he thinks they're funny..."

Just then, the front door slammed.

"He's back!" said George. "Dad's home!"

They hurried through the garden and back into the house.

Mr. Weasley was slumped in a kitchen chair with his glasses off and his eyes closed. He was a thin man, going bald, but the little hair he had was as red as any of his children's. He was wearing long green robes, which were dusty and travel-worn.

"What a night," he mumbled, groping for the teapot as they all sat down around him. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned..."

Mr. Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed.

"Find anything, Dad?" said Fred eagerly.

"All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle," yawned Mr. Weasley. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness..."

"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" said George.

"Just Muggle-baiting," sighed Mr. Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it. Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking — they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face...But the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe —"

Leo suddenly found himself wondering if he could get some shrinking keys for the Dursleys._ The kettle sounds nice as well. Have to find someone to do it for me though otherwise, the Dursleys will become suspicious and will never take it._ He felt hands on his arms and jumped, immediately prepared for a fight when he noticed it was just the Weasley twins.

They led him up the stairs to a room on the fourth floor, which they opened to reveal two sets of beds and a mattress on the floor. Leo guessed that's where he would be sleeping. The rest of the room was chaotic – splashes of color everywhere, bits of paper with scribbles, and various joke items were strewn about. In the middle of it all stood Fred and George, their smiles full of mischief.

* * *

_Leo,_

_I'm glad to hear you're doing better. I'm not surprised that Remus was able to help pull you out of your funk – he's always had a knack for knowing just what to say to people to make them feel better. _

_Take as much time as you need, you'll be ready when you're ready. It took your father almost eight months to finally talk about what was wrong, but that's him. Everyone's different. There's no set date you have to be ready by – so take your time._

_Hope your holidays are going well!_

_Love,_

_Uncle Siri_

_P.S.: Nice try, kid, but that's not happening._


	4. Chapter 4: Bookstore Brawl

**Chapter 4: Bookstore Brawl**

_Siri was quiet after I told him. Then he pulled me into a hug and apologized over and over for being a git. I felt better afterward. Not just because I well and truly had my brother back, but because I had gotten my fears out in the open and I wasn't rejected. I think that's what I feared most would happen. Rejection._

* * *

Leo had a nightmare his first night at the Burrow. It was the same one – Quirrell torturing him repeatedly and Leo eventually killing him. He woke up to find Fred and George holding him down, staring at his sweat-soaked form in worry. When they asked what was wrong, he had looked away and mumbled that it was just nightmares from the end of last year. The two had exchanged a look before picking him up by his arms, grabbing his broom, and marching him out the door.

The led him to a large field and tossed him a Quaffle-sized ball, which he stared at in confusion until they grabbed their own brooms and took the ball from him, soaring through the sky. Leo raced after them and took it back, and there progressed the quietest game of keep-away Leo had ever been a part of.

When they returned to the house, Mrs. Weasley was standing in the front yard, hands on her hips as she prepared to scold them all for being out so late. The twins sent Leo inside while they talked to their mum.

The next night, he had another nightmare, and again the twins took him out flying. This time, when they returned, Mrs. Weasley was waiting for them with a kind smile and mugs of hot chocolate.

As this was occurring, the Weasleys began to notice other odd behaviors as well. Leo avoided mirrors at all costs and outright refused to be in a room with a chessboard in it. They were confused at first until Harry explained that some of the obstacles they had had to overcome were a giant chessboard and dealing with the Mirror of Erised. Leo was surprised the following morning to find that all of the mirrors had either been removed or covered. He didn't say anything but was grateful nonetheless.

A week after Leo began staying with the Weasleys, he and the twins were walking back into the kitchen that morning when they heard Mr. Weasley speaking.

"...You three've got them, too," he was saying, as the three ambled in.

Leo blinked at his Hogwarts letter before opening it and reading through the list of books. One was _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_, and the rest were seven books all by Gitroy Lookhard, as Leo liked to call him. As in 'look hard enough, and you might just find some talent'. Leo outright refused to believe that someone with an ego that large had done any of the things Mrs. Weasley said he had done. _You don't see, do, and experience horrible things and come out of it smiling. You just don't._

Fred, who had finished his own list, peered over at Leo's.

"You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he said. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan — bet it's a witch."

At this point, Fred caught his mother's eye and quickly busied himself with the marmalade.

"That lot won't come cheap," said George, with a quick look at his parents. "Lockhart's books are really expensive..."

"Well, we'll manage," said Mrs. Weasley, but she looked worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."

Leo made a resolution at that moment to pay for all the Weasleys' supplies. It was the least he could do after they put up with his nonsense for the past week.

"Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked Ginny.

She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, and put her elbow in the butter dish. Fortunately, no one saw this except Harry and Leo – who barely suppressed a snort of laughter - because just then Ron's elder brother Percy walked in. He was already dressed, his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his sweater vest. Leo had the overwhelming desire to give it to Apollo and have him fly it off to Azkaban as a gift for Sirius.

"Morning, all," said Percy briskly. "Lovely day."

He sat down in the only remaining chair but leaped up again almost immediately, pulling from underneath him a molting, gray feather duster — at least, that was what Leo thought it was until he saw that it was breathing.

"Errol!" said Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy and extracting a letter from under its wing. "Finally— he's got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys. 'Course, this was before Leo sent a message saying he had picked you up."

_"'Dear Ron, Leo, and Harry if you're there, _

_"'I hope everything went all right and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, Ron, because that would get Harry into trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Harry is all right, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl because I think another delivery might finish your yours off. _

_"I'm very busy with schoolwork, of course'—_ How can she be?" said Ron in horror. "We're on vacation! — _'and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley? Let me know what's happening as soon as you can._

_Love from Hermione.'"_

"Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get all your things then, too," said Mrs. Weasley, starting to clear the table. "What're you all up to today?"

Leo, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George were planning to go up the hill to a small paddock the Weasleys owned. It was surrounded by trees that blocked it from view of the village below, meaning that they could practice Quidditch there, as long as they didn't fly too high.

They couldn't use real Quidditch balls, which would have been hard to explain if they had escaped and flown away over the village; instead, they threw apples for one another to catch. They took turns riding Leo and Harry's Nimbus Two Thousands, which were easily the best brooms; Ron's old Shooting Star was often outstripped by passing butterflies. Leo roared with laughter every time he saw it happen.

Five minutes later they were marching up the hill, broomsticks over their shoulders. They had asked Percy if he wanted to join them, but he had said he was busy. Leo had only seen Percy at mealtimes so far; he stayed shut in his room the rest of the time. Leo felt it was because he needed some 'alone time'. Fred and George were both horrified and amused by this statement.

"Wish I knew what he was really up to," said Fred, frowning. "He's not himself. His exam results came the day before you did; twelve O.W.L.s and he hardly gloated at all."

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels," George explained, seeing Leo and Harry's puzzled looks. "Bill got twelve, too. If we're not careful, we'll have another Head Boy in the family. I don't think I could stand the shame."

Bill was the oldest Weasley brother. He and the next brother, Charlie, had already left Hogwarts. Leo had never met either of them but knew that Charlie was in Romania studying dragons and Bill in Egypt working for the wizard's bank, Gringotts. He was looking forward to meeting Charlie one day and hearing about all his adventures with dragons.

"Dunno how Mum and Dad are going to afford all our school stuff this year," said George after a while. "Five sets of Lockhart books! And Ginny needs robes and a wand and everything..."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, George, I'm sure it'll all turn out fine," Leo assured him.

* * *

Mrs. Weasley woke them all – with the exception of Leo and the twins, who were already awake - early the following Wednesday. After a quick half a dozen bacon sandwiches each, they pulled on their coats and Mrs. Weasley took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantelpiece and peered inside.

"We're running low, Arthur," she sighed. "We'll have to buy some more today...Ah well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!"

And she offered him the flowerpot.

Harry stared at them all watching him.

"W-what am I supposed to do?" he stammered.

"They've never traveled by Floo powder," said Ron suddenly. "Sorry, you two, I forgot."

"Never?" said Mr. Weasley. "But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"

"We asked for directions and walked there," Leo shrugged, feeling a bit guilty about lying to them.

He didn't know why, but he felt that it was important that he keep Grimmauld Place a secret from everyone. So far, the only ones who knew about it were himself, Harry, and Sirius – and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Floo powder's a lot quicker, dear, but goodness me, if neither of you've used it before —" Mrs. Weasley was saying.

"They'll be all right, Mum," said Fred. "Watch us first."

He took a pinch of glittering powder out of the flowerpot, stepped up to the fire, and threw the powder into the flames.

With a roar, the fire turned emerald green and rose higher than Fred, who stepped right into it, shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and vanished.

"You must speak clearly, dear," Mrs. Weasley told Harry and Leo as George dipped his hand into the flowerpot. "And be sure to get out at the right grate..."

"The right what?" said Harry nervously as the fire roared and whipped George out of sight, too.

"Well, there are an awful lot of wizard fires to choose from, you know, but as long as you've spoken clearly —"

"They'll be fine, Molly, don't fuss," said Mr. Weasley, helping himself to Floo powder too.

"But, dear, if he got lost, how would we ever explain to his aunt and uncle?"

"They wouldn't mind," Harry reassured her. "Dudley would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a chimney, don't worry about that —"

"Even I think that's a brilliant joke," Leo snorted.

"Well...all right...you go after Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, when you get into the fire, say where you're going."

"And keep your elbows tucked in," Ron advised.

"And your eyes shut," said Mrs. Weasley. "The soot —"

"Don't fidget," said Ron. "Or you might well fall out of the wrong fireplace —"

"But don't panic and get out too early; wait until you see Fred and George."

Trying hard to bear all this in mind, Harry took a pinch of Floo powder and walked to the edge of the fire. He took a deep breath, scattered the powder into the flames, and stepped forward; he opened his mouth and immediately swallowed a lot of hot ash.

"D-Dia-gon Alley," he coughed.

He vanished, and Leo exchanged an apprehensive look with everyone else.

"Anyone else feel like that went terribly, or just me?" he asked.

"Oh dear. I certainly hope he hasn't gone too far," Mrs. Weasley said worriedly.

"I'm sure he's fine, Mrs. Weasley. Harry's got a knack for getting out of messy situations," Leo reassured her, taking Floo powder out of the pot. "Granted, I'm usually the one who puts him in them – but still."

He threw the powder into the flames, his eyes dancing as they turned bright green. He stepped into the flames and smiled at what felt like a pleasantly warm breeze. He wanted to linger a bit longer but wasn't sure how long the Floo Powder would last.

"Diagon Alley!" he shouted clearly.

It felt as though he was being sucked down a giant drain. He seemed to be spinning very fast — the roaring in his ears was deafening — and then suddenly he toppled out, feeling hands steadying him before he fell over. He looked up to see that it was the twins who had caught him.

"Where's Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked in confusion.

Leo sighed dramatically.

"Apparently, I can't take my cousin anywhere."

Leo was saved from explaining further by the appearance of Ron, who filled everyone in on the Harry situation. Percy appeared next, followed by Ginny and finally Mrs. Weasley. She looked around worriedly before bustling them out of the Leaky Cauldron and out to Diagon Alley to search for Harry.

Thankfully it only took about ten minutes to find Harry, safe and sound in the presence of both Hagrid and Hermione. Harry explained that he had wound up in Knockturn Alley – essentially the Dark Wizards' shopping district – and that Hagrid had found him and managed to lead him out to Diagon Alley safely.

"Suppose it's a relief you were covered in soot. Makes it harder to see the scar," Leo said thoughtfully. "Hate to think what a bunch of Dark Wizards would do to the Boy-Who-Lived."

"Funnily enough, that doesn't make me feel any better, Leo," Harry informed him in a very dry tone.

"It wasn't supposed to."

"You're a git."

"I love you too."

"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by Mrs. Weasley ("Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found him, Hagrid!"). "See yer at Hogwarts!" And he strode away, head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the packed street.

"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry asked Leo, Ron, and Hermione as they climbed the Gringotts steps. "Malfoy and his father."

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" said Mr. Weasley sharply behind them.

"No, he was selling —"

"So he's worried," said Mr. Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something..."

"I'd pay good money to see you take old Lucy down a few pegs," Leo admitted in a gleeful tone.

"You be careful, Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley sharply as they were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the door. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew —"

"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Mr. Weasley indignantly, but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of Hermione's parents, who were standing nervously at the counter that ran all along the great marble hall, waiting for Hermione to introduce them.

"But you're Muggles!" said Mr. Weasley delightedly. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten-pound notes in Mr. Granger's hand.

As everyone else went to their vaults in Gringotts, he walked up to the counter and requested Adknus's presence. When the grizzled old goblin appeared, Leo asked that any money taken from the Weasley account be refilled from his own vault at the end of the day. When asked if Leo would like the family informed, he shook his head, saying that if they asked to just tell them it was an anonymous donation. He knew the Weasleys would never accept charity, even if that's not what it was. It was simply Leo's way to repay them for all they had done over the last week and a half.

He then headed out and bought all his necessary school supplies, saving the books for last as he didn't want to lug Lockhart's stupid face all over the Alley. An hour later, he was headed for Flourish and Blotts. He was by no means the only one making his way to the bookshop. As he approached it, he was surprised to find a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:

_GILDEROY LOCKHART _

_will be signing copies of his autobiography _

_MAGICAL ME_

_today 12:30 P. M. to 4:30 P.M._

"Well, I am now officially convinced that the universe hates me," Leo pouted.

"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed behind him, alerting Leo to her presence. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"

The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of witches around Mrs. Weasley's age. A harassed looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies...Don't push, there...mind the books, now..."

Leo - joined by Harry, Ron, and Hermione - squeezed inside. A long line wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. They each grabbed a copy of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_ and snuck up the line to where the rest of the Weasleys were standing with Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair. "We'll be able to see him in a minute..."

Leo wasn't able to suppress an eye roll.

Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair. Leo didn't know it was possible to dislike someone this much without ever having talked to them.

A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.

"Out of the way, there," he snarled at Ron, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the _Daily Prophet _—"

"Big deal," said Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it just as Leo kicked out a foot and tripped the man, causing him to fall and break his camera.

Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. He looked up. He saw Ron — and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he leaped to his feet and positively shouted, "It can't be Harry Potter?"

Sensing something bad coming, Leo latched onto Harry's arm. This turned out to be a smart move on his part as the crowd parted, whispering excitedly, and Lockhart dove forward, seizing Harry's arm and tried to pull him to the front. He looked bewildered when Harry didn't budge. He looked at Harry's other arm and spotted Leo holding onto him tightly. Lockhart gave a brilliant smile.

"Come along, lad, let Harry go. Promise you, you can have him right back -"

"No thanks. I'm not letting you use Harry for some stupid publicity stunt," Leo responded in a very rude tone.

"I don't believe that's your decision to make, Mr...?"

"Evans. But it's not yours either. It's Harry's," Leo informed the man. "Do you want to go up there with him, Harry?"

"Not particularly, no," Harry replied at once.

"There you have it," Leo smiled triumphantly. "Now, let him go before I sue the hell out of you for assault and attempted kidnapping."

Lockhart seemed quite displeased by this turn of events, but released Harry nonetheless and returned to the stage. He turned around to face the crowd, his unusually bright smile back on his face as he said, "It appears Mr. Potter is a bit shy – but not to worry! You still have me."

He gave a small wink and the women – and a few men – cheered. Leo rolled his eyes and pretended to vomit, still not releasing his hold on Harry in case Lockhart changed his mind.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!

"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography — which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge —" The crowd applauded again. "He had no idea," Lockhart continued, giving Harry a winning smile through the crowd, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

"Yep. The universe definitely hates me," Leo groaned before turning to Harry. "Is it too late to drop out of school?"

Harry patted his shoulder sympathetically. A wizard then came by and presented him with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under their weight, Harry and Leo managed to make their way to the edge of the room, where Ginny was standing next to her new cauldron.

"You have these," Harry mumbled to her, tipping the books into the cauldron. "I'll buy my own —"

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Black?" said a voice Leo had no trouble recognizing.

He bit back a groan, as he turned to face Blaise Zabini with Draco not far behind him, looking uncomfortable with the situation. Leo met his gaze, giving a slight incline of his head and receiving one in return.

"Couldn't let stupid little Potter have the attention – had to go and grab some for yourself, didn't you?" Zabini sneered.

"Sorry, I'm still trying to figure out who you are," Leo frowned, scratching his chin in faux thought. "Haven't I seen you in a circus somewhere? Maybe a zoo?"

Zabini snarled, stepping forward and reaching into the pocket of his robe with his right hand. Leo lurched forward, grabbing Zabini's wrist with his left hand and flicking his wand out into his right with one fluid motion. The tip of his wand pointed at the underside of Zabini's chin.

"We've been here before, haven't we?" Leo asked in a pleasant tone. "It didn't end so well for you last time, now did it?"

Zabini's face grew red as a small crowd gathered around them. Ron and Hermione pushed their way to the front, laden with stacks of books as they made their way over to Harry, asking what was going on. Harry was just as confused as they were, and he had been there since Zabini had first shown up.

"Feeling brave just because all your little friends are around?" Zabini attempted to mock him.

"Last I checked, we got in this exact same situation last time when just _your_ friends were around," Leo reminded him pointedly. "Why don't you yield now and walk away – while you have some small shred of dignity left."

"Never," Zabini snarled.

"Leo!" said Mr. Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? Put your wand away -"

"Well, well, well — Arthur Weasley."

It was Mr. Malfoy. He stood with his hand on Draco's – who paled somewhat - shoulder sneering at them all.

"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids...I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration._

"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr. Weasley flushed a darker red than either Ron or Ginny could ever manage.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said.

"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley...and I thought your family could sink no lower."

There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying; Mr. Weasley had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backward into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spellbooks came thundering down on all their heads; there was a yell of, "Get him, Dad!" from Fred or George; Mrs. Weasley was shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!"; the crowd stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over and, in the commotion, Zabini broke free and ran off; "Gentlemen, please — please!" cried the assistant, and then, louder than all —

"Break it up, there, gents, break it up —"

Hagrid was wading toward them through the sea of books. In an instant, he had pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an _Encyclopedia of Toadstools. _He was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl — take your book — it's the best your father can give you —" Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr. Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that — no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter — bad blood, that's what it is — come on now — let's get outta here."

The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop them leaving, but he barely came up to Hagrid's waist and seemed to think better of it. They hurried up the street, the Grangers shaking with fright and Mrs. Weasley beside herself with fury.

"A fine example to set for your children...brawling in public...what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought —"

"He was pleased," said Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the _Daily Prophet_ if he'd be able to work the fight into his report — said it was all publicity —"

"Well, gotta find some way to make the headlines since Harry didn't go up there with him," Leo remarked, retracting his wand as they made their way down the street.

"How'd you know Lockhart was going to go for him anyway?" George inquired curiously.

"Simple: Lockhart's an attention-seeking prat who'll do anything to make a splash. Getting a photo with the Boy-Who-Lived would've been the perfect way to do that."

"Wow, you really don't like Lockhart," Ron commented.

"Gee, did I make it too obvious?"

* * *

_Uncle Siri,_

_This may seem a bit of an odd question, but what do you know about Gilderoy Lockhart? He's supposed to be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but I don't really like him. Granted, he's most likely loads better than Quirrell (I highly doubt I'll ever meet anyone as truly awful as he)._

_I met him in Flourish and Blotts yesterday when he tried to get a picture with Harry and I wouldn't let him. Not really looking forward to dealing with that ego for an entire school year._

_Hope all is as well as it can be._

_Love, _

_Leo_

_P.S.: I hope you're aware that I'm not going to stop asking until you say 'yes'._

* * *

_Dear Remus,_

_This may seem a bit of an odd question, but what do you know about Gilderoy Lockhart? He's supposed to be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but I don't really like him. Granted, he's most likely loads better than Quirrell (I highly doubt I'll ever meet anyone as truly awful as he)._

_I met him in Flourish and Blotts yesterday when he tried to get a picture with Harry and I wouldn't let him. Not really looking forward to dealing with that ego for an entire school year._

_Hope all is well._

_Cheers,_

_Leo_

_P.S.: You wouldn't happen to know a slow-acting spell or potion that can change the colors of various things/people, would you? Asking for a friend._

_P.P.S.: You wouldn't happen to know of some sort of silencing charm, would you? Something that prevents other people from hearing you? Again, asking for a friend._


	5. Chapter 5: Flashy Entrance

**Chapter 5: Flashy Entrance**

_I've never been more relieved to go back to school. Escaping the place where my worst memories – my worst fears – are held will do me good, I'm sure. Seeing Remy and the Evans twins is a nice bonus as well._

* * *

Leo was dreading the end of the summer holidays. As the date drew closer to September first – to returning to Hogwarts – Leo's nightmares became more intense, something that he hadn't believed was possible. He could now feel what was happening, relive those terrible moments over and over again.

It got to the point where he would lay awake at night, waiting for the Weasley twins to fall asleep. When that happened, he would sneak downstairs and go to sleep on the couch until his nightmares awoke him and he headed out to the field to fly. Mrs. Weasley was still waiting with a mug of hot chocolate when he got back.

On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner that included all of Harry and Leo's favorite things, ending with mouthwatering treacle pudding and a large chocolate cake. Leo almost got into a fistfight with Ron over the last slice. Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks that they had received from Leo last Christmas; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for one last mug of hot chocolate and bed.

At least, for everyone else. Leo decided that it was best if he just stayed up that night and snuck downstairs to fly around the field for a bit. He was surprised to find Mrs. Weasley waiting for him in the living room, holding a glass containing some purple liquid. She handed it to him.

"This is a Dreamless Sleep Potion. It should help," she smiled at him.

At those words, Leo immediately drank down the potion. He was about to thank her when he felt his eyes droop shut and he fell backward on his feet. He awoke in the twins' room at dawn with everyone else, more rested than he had been in months.

Mrs. Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills – though still found time to ask Leo how he had slept. He had simply responded with a bone-crushing hug before dashing away to make sure his things were gathered. When he returned to the twins' room, he found Apollo waiting with what Leo was sure was Sirius's reply. He seemed affronted by the mere presence of the screech owl next to him, which most likely carried Remus's response.

"Don't worry about it, mate," Leo assured his feathered friend. "You had a very important job, delivering and bringing back Siri's letter. This fellow had it easy – no offense."

The screech owl merely hooted, shrugging it off as Leo retrieved both the letters. The screech owl and Apollo both took off once he had what he wanted. Apollo never wanted to be in his cage, so Leo figured he'd just let him fly off to Hogwarts on his own and meet him there.

He looked down at the letters, prepared to open them when Fred and George barged into the room, scrambling for their things. Leo rolled his eyes as he stuffed his letters in his pocket before collecting his things, putting them in his trunk, and lugging it downstairs.

Leo couldn't see how nine people, seven large trunks, two owls, and a rat were going to fit into the small Ford Anglia Mr. Weasley had. What he had failed to take into account, however, were the numerous magical modifications the man had made to it. Apparently, it could even fly.

"Not a word to Molly," he whispered to Leo and Harry as he opened the trunk and showed him how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily.

When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Leo, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said, "Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"

Leo had to stuff his fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

Mr. Weasley started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard, Harry and Leo turning back for a last look at the house. They barely had time to wonder when they'd see it again when they were back. George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard so that Fred could run in for his broomstick. They had almost reached the highway when Ginny shrieked that she'd left her diary. By the time she had clambered back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high. Leo would've been more than happy to be even later.

Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his wife.

"Molly, dear —"

"_No_, Arthur —–"

"No one would see — this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed — that'd get us up in the air — then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser —"

"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight —"

Leo was disappointed when Mrs. Weasley won the argument. He had been looking forward to seeing the car fly.

They reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr. Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station.

"Percy and Leo first," said Mrs. Weasley, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier.

"I'll find us a compartment in the back," Leo informed Harry and Ron.

He and Percy then walked forward briskly before disappearing through the barrier and reappearing on the other side in front of a scarlet steam engine that people were currently flooding into. Leo separated from Percy at once and headed toward the end of the train. He managed to find a compartment at the very end of the train that was blissfully empty. He was loading his trunk into it when the compartment door opened.

"Zabini's looking for you, you know," a voice behind him drawled.

"Who?" Leo replied, turning around to see Draco standing there with his trunk.

Draco rolled his eyes in response before loading his trunk up next to Leo's and taking a seat next to the window. He was about to remind Leo who Zabini was when he decided it would be more fun to play along with the boy's ongoing joke.

"Oh, you know, the bloke whose nose you broke at my father's party," Draco reminded him.

"I broke his nose? Brilliant," Leo replied, grinning when Draco snorted with laughter. "How much trouble am I in for doing that, by the way?"

"None, actually," Draco shrugged as Leo sat down opposite him. "Zabini was the one who got in trouble. Father was livid, yelled at him for insulting a valued house-guest then kicked him and his mum out."

"Wow," Leo raised his eyebrows in response. "Guess I underestimated how badly your dad wants access to the vault."

"What're you on about?"

"When my dad came of age, he put restrictions on the Black family vault that prevented your dad – among others – from accessing it. That's why your dad wanted you to be friends with me," Leo explained.

"He was hoping you'd release the restrictions when you came of age."

"Exactly. No offense to you, Draco, but I have no intention of doing that. Friends or not."

"None taken. I-"

Leo never found out what Draco was about to say as the train lurched and began to move. Seconds later, the twins popped by, looking surprised to find him with Draco. They exchanged looks before shrugging and deciding it wasn't any of their business.

"Hey, Leo, have you seen Harry and Ron?" Fred asked, pulling his trunk into the compartment and setting it up on the rack as George did the same.

"No. Why, they haven't made it on board?" Leo inquired with a small frown.

"No, and no one else has seen them either," George informed him as he and Fred sat down next to Draco.

"I'm sure they'll turn up eventually," Leo shrugged, not entirely perturbed by their absence. "When they do, they better not make some sort of flashy entrance without me – otherwise I'm going to be royally peeved."

The other three gave snorts of laughter before stopping and staring at each other. Even Leo could feel the awkward tension in the air, and he had a tendency to be blissfully oblivious to almost everything around him. It remained like this for a full minute before George was the first to break it.

"So..."

"Your dad's a git," Fred finished.

"So I'm learning," Draco remarked in a dry tone.

Fred and George were taken aback at this before grinning widely. The awkward tension quickly faded, and the four talked amicably for a while, much to Leo's joy. He wasn't sure how well Draco would do when he came face-to-face with a Weasley – considering his family's, at best, contentious relationship with them – but was pleasantly surprised to find that he was getting on well with the Weasley twins. _Now, if we could only work on his relationship with Harry, Ron, and Hermione._ He sighed.

Halfway through the train ride, not long after the four had changed into their robes, Zabini – flanked by Crabbe and Goyle - found them. Leo had been wondering what had happened to Draco's bodyguards but hadn't bothered to ask given that he didn't actually care all that much. That being said, he wasn't entirely surprised to find that they had taken up with Zabini. _Seems to be a shift in power among the Slytherins._

"I'm not surprised to find you clinging to Black, Malfoy. But I thought you'd have more class than to slum it with the Weasleys. My how the mighty have fallen -"

"If you have a point, can you make it already? I don't have the patience or attention span to sit through a villainous monologue," Leo informed him.

Zabini flushed an angry shade of red.

"Think you're so clever, Black, with all your witty comments and snide remarks?"

"Yes, actually, I do," Leo replied with a small shrug. "Thanks for calling my comments witty. Really brightens up my day."

Leo's friends snickered quietly at this, and Leo could practically see steam pouring from Zabini's ears. The angry Slytherin dug into his pocket and pulled out his wand, but was surprised to find three more pointed back at him. Draco and the Weasleys had risen from their seats, their wands leveled at Zabini and his cronies. Not even Zabini was stupid enough to go against those odds.

"You're making a mistake, Malfoy, dredging around with this muck -"

"Probably," Draco replied, parroting the word Leo had said to him on the train last year. "But it's what _I_ want."

Zabini stormed from the compartment, Crabbe and Goyle at his heels. The three lowered their wands before returning to their seats and resuming their previous conversation, which was something having to do with how competent a teacher Lockhart would turn out to be. Leo's money was on 'not very'. The other three were inclined to agree.

As the train continued on towards the castle, Leo became quieter and more withdrawn, preferring to let the other three carry the conversation while his mind turned toward the castle. He couldn't help but think about everything that had occurred at the castle with Quirrell a few months back - he still couldn't believe two and a half months had passed since then, it still felt so recent. But Quirrell wasn't what had him worried. After the panic attack in Azkaban, Leo was afraid that being surrounded by the stone walls of Hogwarts would trigger another one. He didn't think he was quite prepared to handle himself if that happened.

When the train finally pulled into the Hogsmeade station, the four grabbed their trunks and the two second-years followed Fred and George as they disembarked and headed toward a hundred or so carriages. Leo was slightly appalled and highly interested to see what they were being pulled by.

There were creatures standing between the carriage shafts; if he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would have called them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither — vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Leo thought they looked badarse.

The four climbed into a carriage, which smelled faintly of mold and straw. The carriage lurched forward a few minutes later, the trundling through a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars. The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Leo's face growing paler as the many turrets and towers drew nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and the four stepped out, Leo shivering as he did so.

He missed the looks his three friends exchanged as the four of them joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous Entrance Hall, which was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.

Leo and the twins separated from Draco as they entered the Great Hall, headed toward the Gryffindor table. Once there, Leo collapsed into his seat at once and placed his head down on the table, ignoring the people around him. He vaguely heard the Sorting Hat singing its song, but was too engrossed with his fork and how it sparkled in the light to pay attention to what it was saying. He only really acknowledged anything when Ginny's name was called and she was Sorted into Gryffindor. Once the Sorting was done, Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, but it can wait until the feast. Dig in!"

The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. Leo absentmindedly put some potatoes and steak on his plate. He didn't really eat it, instead choosing to poke at it and move it about as he tried and failed to summon up any sort of appetite. Fred and George exchanged worried looks across from him. The looks grew more concerned when, upon the appearance of the desert, Leo only stared morosely at the various chocolate dishes. Leo never turned down chocolate.

He only looked up when George nudged him from across the table.

"Hey, I heard Harry and Ron flew to school in the car -"

"They hit the Whomping Willow -" Fred continued.

"But they're both alright," they finished together.

"Those gits," Leo stated in a tone full of mock outrage. "They didn't even bother to invite me."

The twins snorted with laughter before grinning widely as Leo took a piece of chocolate cake and put it on his plate. He only ate about half of it, but it was progress in the twins' book. They high-fived under the table as the food disappeared and Dumbledore got to his feet once more.

"I have a few start-of-term notices to give you," he informed them. "First and foremost is that, as always, the Forbidden Forest on the edge of the grounds is – as the name suggests – forbidden."

Leo had a sudden urge to go there at that moment. At the very least, it would get him out of the castle.

"Secondly, I'd like to present your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor: Gilderoy Lockhart -"

Many high pitched shrieks of joy filled the Great Hall at this announcement. Leo made gagging motions when Lockhart, dressed in robes of aquamarine, gave great flourishing bows before smiling at them all and winking at several students. That just caused more screams. Dumbledore seemed to realize that he wouldn't be able to get much more said, so he dismissed the Great Hall and sent them off to their dorms.

Once in the common room, Leo bolted for the boys' staircase. He hurried up it, right to the top, and at last reached the door of his old dormitory, which now had a sign on it saying SECOND YEARS. He entered the familiar, circular room, with its six four-posters hung with red velvet and its high, narrow windows. His trunk had been brought up for him and stood at the end of his bed.

Leo climbed into his bed, closing the curtains around him and lighting his wand before taking his letters out from the inside of his robes. He decided to open up the one from Sirius first and read:

_Leo,_

_I remember Lockhart well. He started Hogwarts during our fifth year and was quite full of himself for a first year. He thought he was better – both in looks and talent – than everyone else, and expected immediate popularity. When that didn't happen, he took to shadowing the most popular and talented people in the school. Your father was on the receiving end of most of this._

_He mainly ignored Lockhart at first, but we all became frustrated when he constantly followed us around, boasting about all his nonexistent talents and ambitions we knew he would never achieve. Cas got fed up with it one day and froze him upside down to the wall next to the giant hourglasses. He let him down an hour later, and I think Lockhart's held a grudge since then._

_Every time after that, he took every chance he could to challenge Cas to duels – not knowing that Cas avoided conflict like the bloody plague. When Cas refused his challenges, he took to the skies and played Seeker on his house's Quidditch team, hoping to beat him. Needless to say, he was unsuccessful._

_All in all, Lockhart's an egotistical twit with – at best – an average amount of talent when it comes to magic._

_Hope this helped – and good luck dealing with him!_

_Love,_

_Uncle Siri_

_P.S.: I hope you're aware that I'm going to continue to say 'no'._

Leo snorted at the last line as he digested what Sirius had written about Lockhart. He turned to Remus' letter next, hoping it would contain something more that he could use against the 'egotistical twit'.

_Dear Leo,_

_I don't remember much of Lockhart during school – I only recall that he was sorted into Ravenclaw, played on their Quidditch team, and had a rather unhealthy obsession with your father._

_I heard about him more in recent years – all the feats he supposedly accomplished are complete rubbish. It's impossible to cure a werewolf, even with the Homorphus Charm – and making a vampire eat nothing but lettuce for the rest of its life when they can only survive by drinking blood? As your father would say, 'that's a load of bollocks'._

_Those were the only two books I really flipped through, I couldn't stop laughing long enough to read the rest. Not entirely sure what Dumbledore was thinking hiring Lockhart – but I'm sure he knows best._

_I wish you all the best._

_Remus_

_P.S.: Colovaria is a spell that helps when you need to change the color of something – or someone. I've also enclosed a list of what you might need for the potion you were thinking of as well. I'm tempted to ask who/what you plan on using them on, but I think I may already know._

_P.P.S.: Silencio is good for keeping creatures and people quiet. Muffliato is what you will want to use to stop people from hearing you. Use Finite Incantatem to remove them when you're done. Hope you sleep well._

Leo couldn't help but wonder how Remus knew that he wasn't sleeping well based solely on the spells he asked for, but assumed it had something to do with what his father had gone through. With a shrug, he pulled out the list Remus had included, a mischievous grin on his face as he read it over. _Have to get this to the twins tomorrow..._

* * *

**A/N: To those of you asking about pairings, I've already got it sorted. However, Leo's won't be coming into play until book four. They're twelve at the moment, and twelve-year-old boys don't really pay much attention to girls. I won't tell you who he and anyone else are paired with - you'll have to wait and see for yourselves. ;)**


	6. Chapter 6: Gitroy Lookhard

Chapter 6: Gitroy Lookhard

_James used the Trip Jinx on Snape today while we were walking to Potions. Everyone laughed except the Evans twins, myself, and Remus. I tried to help him up, but he slapped my hand away and said that he 'didn't need the help of someone like you'. Whatever that means. Sirius took offense to this and was about to curse him when Rose scolded Snape for being rude. I don't think I've ever seen her look so irritated. While she was doing that, Lily was yelling at James for attacking Snape. Those two are quite the pair._

* * *

Leo was glad he had cast the Muffliato Spell around his bed before going to sleep that night. He had woken up, screaming and covered in sweat but no one had heard him. It was early in the morning, the sky was just barely tinged pink as Leo went off to shower and change into his school robes before grabbing the Map, his books – with the exception of Lockhart's garbage – and attaching his wand to his holster. He set off down the stairs into the common room before exiting the portrait of the Fat Lady and making his way down the Grand Staircase toward the Great Hall.

He stopped on the third floor, staring down the corridor before shaking himself and continuing onward and into the empty Hall. He sat down at the Gryffindor table with a small sigh, resting his head on his arms as he waited for breakfast to appear. While he waited, he took out his wand and conjured up flames, making them take the shape of tiny winged dragons that chased each other around.

"You are becoming quite proficient in your abilities, Mr. Black," spoke a voice behind him.

Leo didn't bother turning around to look at Dumbledore.

"Figured I probably should, given that they're a part of me, sir," Leo replied, frowning in concentration before a small owl joined the fray, out flying the dragons by a considerable amount.

"I am glad to hear that, Mr. Black. I was quite worried that – given the events involving Professor Quirrell last year – you would abandon your gift and neglect it altogether."

Leo was quiet for a moment before he said, "I thought about it but, then I realized, the fire saved me – saved Harry. And, in the end, what happened to Quirrell is on me, I can't blame the fire for it."

"Nor should you blame yourself," Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder. "You did what you had to in order to protect someone you love. No one can fault you for that, Mr. Black."

He gave Leo a single pat on the shoulder before walking away and taking his place at the High Table. Food appeared on the tables after that, with people trickling into the Hall shortly after. Hermione greeted Leo as she sat down beside him, taking out _Voyages with Vampires_ and propping it open against the milk jug to read while she ate. Harry and Ron appeared not long after.

"I can't believe you two went off and had an adventure without me," Leo scolded the pair as he spooned oatmeal into a bowl. "Talk about rude..."

"Not exactly like we planned it, Leo," Harry rolled his eyes. "The barrier closed, and we didn't think we had a choice."

"You forgot you had a magical bird that can deliver messages anywhere, didn't you?"

"Shut up."

Leo gave a small snort of laughter before he started eating his oatmeal. He had only taken a few bites and pushed his bowl away when there was a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd. A big, lumpy package bounced off Neville's head and, a second later, something large and gray fell into Hermione's jug, spraying them all with milk and feathers.

"Errol!" said Ron, pulling the bedraggled owl out by the feet. Errol slumped, Unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red envelope in his beak.

"Oh, no —" Ron gasped.

"It's all right, he's still alive," said Hermione, prodding Errol gently with the tip of her finger.

"It's not that — it's _that_." Ron was pointing at the red envelope.

It looked quite ordinary to Harry and Leo, but Ron and Neville were both looking at it as though they expected it to explode. As Apollo soared down to land on Leo's head, the blonde couldn't help but hope that it would. If exploding letters existed, he wanted to send one to Lockhart. Or Zabini. Either way.

"What's the matter?" said Harry.

"She's — she's sent me a Howler," said Ron faintly.

"You'd better open it, Ron," said Neville in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and" — he gulped —"it was horrible."

Harry looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope.

"What's a Howler?" he said.

But Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to smoke at the corners.

"Open it," Neville urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes —"

Ron stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's beak, and slit it open. Leo looked on with bated breath. Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A split second later, Leo knew why. He thought for a moment it had exploded; a roar of sound filled the huge hall, shaking the dust from the ceiling. Leo was then sorely disappointed but still amused by what the letter did.

"— STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE —"

Mrs. Weasley's yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swiveling around to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen.

"— LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED —"

Leo felt that was being a bit dramatic. They had only hit a giant, violent tree after all.

"— ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

A ringing silence fell. The red envelope, which had dropped from Ron's hand, burst into flames and curled into ashes. Leo, amongst a few others, laughed and, gradually, a babble of talk broke out again. The letter didn't explode, but he thought that sending a Howler was brilliant. He made a mental note to send one to the Dursleys at some point.

Hermione closed _Voyages with Vampires_ and looked down at the top of Ron's head.

"Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you —"

"Don't tell me I deserved it," snapped Ron.

"You sort of did," Leo commented, receiving a glare from the ginger. "You stole your parent's car, crashed it into a tree, and lost it in a forest. You should feel lucky that all that happened was you getting yelled at."

Ron opened his mouth to respond but was unable to form any words as they spotted Professor McGonagall moving along the Gryffindor table, handing out course schedules. Leo took his and saw that they had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first. _Excellent. Out of the castle on day one. _Leo sagged with relief.

Leo, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together, crossed the vegetable patch, and made for the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. As they neared the greenhouses they saw the rest of the class standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout. The four had only just joined them when she came striding into view across the lawn, accompanied – much to Leo's irritation - by Gilderoy Lockhart. Sprout's arms were full of bandages, and Leo found himself curious as to what exactly she had been bandaging. He didn't have time to dwell on it as Lockhart spotted them all.

"Oh, hello there!" he called, beaming around at the assembled students. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels..."

_Should've gotten a closer look, you daft git._

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" said Sprout, who was looking distinctly disgruntled, not at all her usual cheerful self.

There was a murmur of interest. They had only ever worked in greenhouse one before — greenhouse three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. Leo felt positively giddy at the prospect. Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. He and Harry were about to head in when Lockhart's hand shot out.

"Harry! I've been wanting a word — you don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?"

"Yes, yes she does," Leo stated before she could answer, pushing past Lockhart's hand and dragging Harry into the greenhouse.

Lockhart, stunned at Leo's abruptness, was unable to stop them as they ran inside, shutting the door behind them and walking over to Ron and Hermione. Sprout was standing behind a trestle bench in the center of the greenhouse. About twenty pairs of different-colored earmuffs were lying on the bench.

When the two had taken their places between Ron and Hermione, she said, "We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

To nobody's surprise, Hermione's hand was first into the air.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Hermione, sounding as usual as though she had swallowed the textbook. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Leo leaned forward eagerly at the mention of danger whilst Hermione's hand narrowly missed Harry's glasses as it shot up again.

"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," she said promptly.

"Precisely. Take another ten points," said Sprout. "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young."

She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish-green in color, were growing there in rows. They looked quite unremarkable to Leo, who didn't have the slightest idea what Hermione meant by the "cry" of the Mandrake. He wondered for a moment if he should consider actually opening a textbook at some point, but ultimately decided against it.

"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs," said Sprout.

There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. Leo wasn't too bothered by it, and promptly grabbed the pinkest, fluffiest pair of earmuffs he could get his hands on.

"When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered," said Sprout. "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right — earmuffs _on_."

Leo snapped the earmuffs over his ears. They shut out sound completely. He briefly wondered if he could get away with stealing a pair in preparation for Lockhart's class. Sprout put a pink, fluffy pair over her ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard.

Leo recoiled in mild horror before leaning forward in fascination when he recalled that Sprout had called the thing 'dangerous.'

Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin, and was bawling at the top of his lungs.

Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Sprout dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said calmly, ignoring Leo's sigh of mild disappointment. "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up.

"Four to a tray — there is a large supply of pots here — compost in the sacks over there — and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula, it's teething."

She gave a sharp slap to a spiky, dark red plant as she spoke, making it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder. Leo wondered if he could get away with sending one to Lockhart. He didn't think the smiley twit would be able to recognize a Venemous Tentacula even if one bit him in the arse – which Leo was hoping would happen.

After that, they didn't have much chance to talk. Their earmuffs were back on and they needed to concentrate on the Mandrakes. Sprout had made it look extremely easy, but it wasn't. The Mandrakes didn't like coming out of the earth but didn't seem to want to go back into it either. They squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists, and gnashed their teeth; Harry spent ten whole minutes trying to squash a particularly fat one into a pot as Leo roared with unheard laughter. At least until his own Mandrake tried to bite him, prompting him to stuff it in its pot as swiftly as possible.

By the end of the class, Leo, like everyone else, was sweaty, aching, and covered in earth. Everyone traipsed back to the castle for a quick wash and then the Gryffindors hurried off to Transfiguration – which happened to be one of Leo's favorite classes. Right up there with Charms. Anything that involved actual magic was alright in his book.

That day, McGonagall had them transfiguring beetles into buttons. Leo had transfigured about five of them successfully before growing bored and deciding to try out the color-changing charm Remus had told him about. McGonagall came by as he was turning one button fluorescent green.

"Getting ahead in our studies are we, Mr. Black?" she asked, picking up a button he had turned hot pink and examining it closely.

"Just got bored, Professor," Leo shrugged. "Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. Ten points to Gryffindor – keep up the good work," she gave him a small smile before returning the button and walking away.

When the lunch bell rang, everyone filed out of the classroom except him, Harry, and Ron, who was whacking his wand furiously on the desk.

"Stupid — useless — thing —"

"Write home for another one," Harry suggested as the wand let off a volley of bangs like a firecracker.

"Oh, yeah, and get another Howler back," said Ron, stuffing the now hissing wand into his bag. "' _It's your own fault your wand got snapped — '_"

"Which isn't an untrue statement," Leo commented.

"You know what, Leo -"

The two bickered all the way down to lunch, where Ron's mood was not improved by Hermione's showing them the handful of perfect coat buttons she had produced in Transfiguration. Leo showed off his own multi-colored buttons, prompting Hermione to demand how and where he had learned to change them into different colors. He merely made a zipping motion over his mouth and winked at her.

"What've we got this afternoon?" said Harry, hastily changing the subject.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione at once, eliciting a loud groan from Leo.

"Why," demanded Ron, seizing her schedule, "have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?"

Hermione snatched the schedule back, blushing furiously before hitting Leo over the head with it when he said that he thought she had had more class than that.

They finished lunch and went outside into the overcast courtyard. Hermione sat down on a stone step and buried her nose in _Voyages with Vampires_ again. Harry, Ron, and Leo stood talking about Quidditch for several minutes before Harry became aware that he was being closely watched. Noticing his cousin's look, Leo glanced up to see a very small, mousy-haired boy staring at Harry as though transfixed. He was clutching what looked like an ordinary Muggle camera, and the moment Harry looked at him, he went bright red.

"All right, Harry? I'm — I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward. "I'm in Gryffindor, too. D'you think — would it be all right if — can I have a picture?" he said, raising the camera hopefully.

"A picture?" Harry repeated blankly.

"A picture is something that captures someone's likeness and puts it -" Leo began to explain.

"I know what a picture is, Leo," Harry replied crossly.

Colin gave a small squeal.

"You're Leo?! _The_ Leo Black?"

"That's what they tell me. They could be lying though," Leo replied with faint amusement, somewhat flattered that someone knew his name.

"I heard about you – almost everyone in your family is famous! I'd love to get a picture with you – and Harry too, of course," said Colin Creevey eagerly, edging further forward. "I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead" (his eyes raked Harry's hairline) "and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll _move_." Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's _amazing_ here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be really good if I had one of the two of you" — he looked imploringly at Harry and Leo, who was starting to feel quite awkward — "maybe your friend could take it and I could stand between you two? And then, could you sign it?"

"Not happening, kiddo," Leo replied in a very dry tone at the same time as an obnoxiously familiar voice began yelling.

"_Signed photos_? You're giving out _signed photos_, Black?"

Loud and scathing, Blaise Zabini's voice echoed around the courtyard. He had stopped right behind Colin, flanked, as he always was at Hogwarts nowadays, by his large and thuggish cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Leo spotted Draco not far behind him looking as though he was severely regretting being put in the same house as Zabini.

"Everyone line up!" Zabini roared to the crowd. "Harry Potter and Leo Black are giving out signed photos!"

"No, I'm not," said Harry angrily, his fists clenching.

"If you wanted my autograph, all you had to do was ask," Leo informed him, mischief twinkling in his eyes. "No need to follow me around like some crazed fangirl."

"That's not – I don't -" Zabini spluttered.

"Careful, Zabini, keep your mouth open long enough and you'll attract flies," Draco snickered, approaching the group.

Harry and Ron visibly tensed at his appearance.

"So _that's_ why there are always flies when what's-his-face is around," Leo said, smacking his forehead. "Thanks for clearing that up, Draco."

Draco gave a small shrug before smirking and saying, "Maybe you _should_ give him a signed photo, Black, maybe then he won't stalk you as much -"

Zabini whipped out his wand, but Hermione shut _Voyages with Vampires_ with a snap and whispered, "Look out!"

"What's all this, what's all this?" Gilderoy Lockhart was striding toward them, his turquoise robes swirling behind him. "Who's giving out signed photos?"

Harry started to speak but he was cut short as Lockhart flung an arm around his shoulders and thundered jovially, "Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!"

Zabini slunk into the crowd with a glare at Leo, who blew him a kiss and waved in return. Draco snorted at this before going after his housemate and heading to his next class.

Leo managed to grab Harry's arm and pull him out of Lockhart's grasp, almost falling to the ground as he did so. Lockhart gave a small frown, perhaps a bit upset at Leo's constant need to foil his attempts at using Harry to put him further in the spotlight.

"Come now, Mr...?"

"Evans," Leo rolled his eyes, unimpressed that the man had already forgotten the name he had given him in Flourish and Blotts.

"Come now, Mr. Evans, if your friend wants to hand out signed photos -"

"He doesn't," Leo interrupted rudely. "Now, if you don't mind, Harry and I have to get to class."

He dragged Harry away, much to his cousin's relief, and brought him back inside the castle and up the Grand Staircase to the third floor. They opened the door to Lockhart's classroom and Harry stepped inside before frowning when he noticed Leo hadn't followed him. He turned, spotting Leo standing in the doorway, his eyes unfocused and his breathing rapid. He strode over, placing a hand on Leo's shoulder and shaking him lightly, jarring him out of his memories.

Leo closed his eyes and took deep, steadying breaths like Sirius had told him before calming down enough to open his eyes, nod at Harry, and take a seat in the classroom as close to the door as possible. He ran his hands through his hair anxiously before placing his head down and keeping his gaze firmly locked on the door. Lockhart strode in not long after that.

When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Neville Longbottom's copy of_ Travels with Trolls_, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front. Leo felt the sudden urge to bolt.

"Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of _Witch Weekly_'s Most Charming Smile Award but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly and Leo blurted out, "You're not funny!"

A few people in the class chortled at this, and Lockhart's face turned bright red before he elected to ignore Leo and hope he would go away. Leo was disappointed. He'd hoped that, at the very least, Lockhart would send him out of the classroom. _Guess I'll have to try harder._

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books — well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about — just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in —"

When he had handed out the test papers he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes — start —_now_!"

Leo read through his paper, rolling his eyes as he wrote down answers:

_1\. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?_

**I dunno – probably something stupid like lilac or whatever.**

_2\. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition? _

**To actually be a halfway decent wizard and not the incompetent loon he currently is.**

_3\. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?_

**He's achieved something? That's news to me. Surprising me, I guess, would be his greatest achievement.**

On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:

_54\. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?_

**In order: Who cares? And talent.**

Leo wrote his name – his real name – in big letters on the top of the page.

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class. Leo noticed he seem to pale considerably when he read one of the papers. He looked around furiously, stopping and staring at Leo when he gave a small waggle of his fingers before resuming staring at the door, his leg bouncing up and down. Lockhart gulped before placing the paper on his desk and continuing to rifle through the rest.

"Tut, tut — hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac." Leo took a moment to feel disappointed in himself that he had gotten at least one right. "I say so in _Year with the Yeti._ And a few of you need to read _Wanderings with Werewolves_ more carefully — I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples — though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky!"

_Neither would I right about now._ Leo thought dryly as Lockhart gave them another roguish wink. Ron was now staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on his face; Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting in front, were shaking with silent laughter. Hermione, on the other hand, was listening to Lockhart with rapt attention and gave a start when he mentioned her name.

"...but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions — good girl! In fact" — he flipped her paper over — "full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione raised a trembling hand.

"Excellent!" beamed Lockhart. "Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so — to business —"

He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it.

"Now — be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard-kind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

Leo kept his expectations quite low and was expecting the cage to be full of blind mice or butterflies. Despite his rather low expectations, he turned his head away from the door to observe whatever tragedy was about to unfold.

"I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice. "It might provoke them."

As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover. In the cage were many little electric blue creatures with wings. They pulled on the bars of the cage, pressing their faces against it and snickering mischievously at them all.

"Yes," he said dramatically. "_Freshly caught Cornish pixies."_

Seamus and Leo couldn't control themselves. They let out snorts of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for screams of terror. Despite the nervousness and anxiety that flooded through his body the moment he set foot in the classroom, Leo couldn't help but find the concept of pixies unbelievably ridiculous.

"_Pixies_?" he managed to choke out over his bouts of laughter. "You had them scared to face a cage full of _Tinker Bells_?"

Leo fell out of his seat, clutching his stomach as he continued to laugh, prompting others in the class to join him. While most of the class didn't seem to know who Tinker Bell was, it was quite clear that Lockhart did – if his face was anything to judge by. Lockhart's face had turned bright red, whether from anger or embarrassment, no one was quite sure.

"Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage.

It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them seized Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air. Several shot straight through the window, showering Leo - who quickly ducked and covered his neck and head with his hands - and others in the back row with broken glass. _Now that's just rude. _Leo mentally complained, ruffling his hair in an attempt to get pieces of glass out. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging rhino. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up-ended the wastebasket, grabbed bags and books and threw them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks and Neville was swinging from the iron chandelier in the ceiling.

"Come on now — round them up, round them up, _they're only pixies_," Lockhart shouted, his gaze meeting Leo's - who had the sudden desire to throw _him_ out the window.

Lockhart rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed, "_Peskipiksi Pesternomi_!"

As Leo expected, it had absolutely no effect; one of the pixies seized his wand and threw it out of the window, too. _Close enough. _Leo decided as Lockhart gulped and dived under his desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Neville, who fell a second later as the chandelier gave way. Leo managed to cast a Softening Charm on the ground just before Neville landed.

The bell rang and there was a mad rush toward the exit. In the relative calm that followed, Lockhart straightened up, caught sight of Leo, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were almost at the door, and said, "Well, I'll ask you four to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." He swept past them and shut the door quickly behind him.

"Can you_ believe_ him?" roared Ron as one of the remaining pixies bit him painfully on the ear.

"He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," said Hermione, immobilizing two pixies at once with a clever Freezing Charm and stuffing them back into their cage.

"_Hands-on_?" said Harry, who was trying to grab a pixie dancing out of reach with its tongue out.

"Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing —"

"Rubbish," said Hermione. "You've read his books — look at all those amazing things he's done —"

"He _says_ he's done," Ron muttered.

After a pixie chucked one of Lockhart's books at his head, Leo had enough. He pointed his wand into the air, shouted _Incendio_ and conjured a long rope of flame with which he used to scare and herd the remaining pixies into their cage. When this was done, he retracted his wand and looked at the other three, who were staring at him, mouths agape.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Ron asked weakly.

"I wasn't motivated to," Leo shrugged before walking over and grabbing the cage. "Now, you three can either leave or help me while I release the pixies in Lockhart's office."

Hermione stared at him appalled while Ron and Harry gleefully followed him down the corridor and down the stairs to Lockhart's office. Very quickly, Leo opened the cage door, opened Lockhart's door, threw the pixies in and closed the door. He took off down the corridor very quickly with the other two on his heels, Lockhart's screams following them out.

_Uncle Siri,_

_Lockhart released a bunch of pixies in class today and had no clue how to get rid of them. He made me, Harry, and a couple of our friends collect them. Pretty sure he regretted that decision after I let the pixies loose in his office._

_I could use some other ideas for pranks if you have any. I already have something in the works involving a color-changing potion, but other ideas would be nice in the meantime._

_I think I'm less ready than I was before, how is that possible?_

_Hope you haven't gone too mad._

_Love,_

_Leo_

_P.S.: Please?_

_Dear Remus,_

_Pulled a wicked prank on Lockhart involving pixies today. He deserved it after setting them loose in the class. And for trying to leech off of Harry's fame. That's starting to get really annoying._

_Granted, him releasing the pixies was probably my fault. I did, after all, laugh at him for believing pixies are scary – and for getting other people to laugh too. Not sure if his face was red from anger or embarrassment. Either way, it was hilarious._

_Hope you're doing well,_

_Leo_

_P.S.: Thanks. McGonagall was impressed with the charm, and I already have a plan in motion for the potion. Hey, that rhymes._

_P.P.S: Again, thanks, what would I ever do without you, Remy?_


	7. Chapter 7: Return of Linguini

**Chapter 7: Return of Linguini**

_Evan Rosier is a git. I caught him picking on some poor Ravenclaw first year – Pandora something. What bothered me about the __whole ordeal__ was how she reacted to the situation – she didn't. At least, not really anyway. She simply smiled, picked up her books, and tried to walk away until Rosier grabbed her by the arm. That's when I stepped in. Rosier told me to walk away, but I refused. He tried to take out his wand, but I was faster. I pointed it right at his throat and he backed down and walked away. Pandora thanked me and left. She's an odd one – but not in a bad way._

* * *

Sleep continued to elude Leo over the next few nights. The nightmares got progressively worse to the point where he was lucky if he got more than two hours of sleep. He took to wandering the school at night as a result, Map clutched in his hand as he wandered down various passages that the Map showed him, trying to memorize alternate routes that would get him where he needed to go faster. Twice he found himself in front of the door that used to lead to Fluffy's room and felt conflicted as to whether or not he should go in there.

On the one hand, he was terrified. He didn't want to wade through the horrible memories that lay within the room and below the trap door (if it was even still there). On the other, part of him felt that the key to overcoming his nightmares was to confront them head-on and go to where it all started. He was saved from deciding the second time when McGonagall appeared, her lips pressed into a thin line as Leo silently wiped the Map and waited for whatever punishment she was going to dish out.

She told him to follow her and he did so, eventually being led to her office where she did something unexpected: she offered him a biscuit. Leo was taken aback at first but took one at her stern look. She then turned to the papers on her desk and set about grading them, which only confused Leo more. The two didn't talk at all except for McGonagall occasionally telling him he could have another biscuit.

When the time came for students to wake up and head down to breakfast, she dismissed him. She then instructed him to come back to her office the next time he found himself wandering around at night. All in all, it was the most bizarre experience of Leo's life – which was saying something since just a few months ago he talked to a man with two faces. It wasn't uncomfortable, just odd.

On Saturday morning, Leo found himself again in her office, munching on biscuits and practicing _Colovaria_ on various objects that McGonagall had set out for him or reversing different transfigurations she had placed on other items. Leo wasn't sure if she was testing him or just finding ways to keep him busy. It was as he was trying to change a Slytherin scarf into a Gryffindor one that Wood came in, saying he was needed for Quidditch practice. McGonagall dismissed him quickly after that.

Wood led him to the changing rooms, where he found Harry holding his broom and Quidditch robes. Leo changed quickly and sat on the bench next to his cousin, surprised to find that he was the only one on the team apart from Wood who was wide awake.

Fred and George Weasley were sitting, puffy-eyed and tousle-haired, next to fourth-year Alicia Spinnet, who seemed to be nodding off against the wall behind her. Her fellow Chasers, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, were yawning side by side opposite them. Harry looked as though he was half on the way to passing out.

"Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all before we actually get onto the field, because I spent the summer devising a whole new training program, which I really think will make all the difference..." Wood began.

Wood was holding up a large diagram of a Quidditch field, on which were drawn many lines, arrows, and crosses in different colored inks. He took out his wand, tapped the board, and the arrows began to wiggle over the diagram like caterpillars. As Wood launched into a speech about his new tactics, Fred Weasley's head drooped right onto Alicia Spinnet's shoulder and he began to snore.

The first board took nearly twenty minutes to explain, but there was another board under that, and a third under that one. Leo stopped paying attention about halfway through the first board. What he had said to Zabini had been true; he didn't have the patience or attention span to sit through a villainous monologue or any other kind of long-winded explanation. It was a big reason why he usually skived off History of Magic.

"So," said Wood, at long last, jerking Leo from his stupor. "Is that clear? Any questions?"

"I've got a question, Oliver," said George, who had woken with a start. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?"

Wood wasn't pleased.

"Now, listen here, you lot," he said, glowering at them all. "Just because we won the Cup last year does not guarantee us a win this year. We barely won, and if Black hadn't -"

Wood seemed to get choked up just imagining what could've happened.

"So this year, we train harder than ever before...Okay, let's go and put our new theories into practice!" Wood shouted, seizing his broomstick and leading the way out of the locker rooms. Stiff-legged and still yawning, his team followed.

They had been in the locker room so long that the sun was up completely now, although remnants of mist hung over the grass in the stadium. As Harry and Leo walked onto the field, they saw Ron and Hermione sitting in the stands.

"Aren't you finished yet?" called Ron incredulously.

"Haven't even started," said Harry, looking jealously at the toast and marmalade Ron and Hermione had brought out of the Great Hall. "Wood's been teaching us new moves."

"He has?" Leo asked in surprise. "I thought he was showing us a new art project or something. I didn't think I was actually supposed to pay attention!"

Harry snorted with laughter as they both mounted their broomsticks and kicked at the ground, soaring up into the air. Leo did a few loops in the air followed by a couple of corkscrews, trying to loosen himself up and shake away the lingering drowsiness that had crept over him during Wood's talk. He soared right around the stadium at full speed, racing Harry, Fred, and George.

"What's that funny clicking noise?" called Fred as they hurtled around the corner.

Leo looked into the stands. Colin was sitting in one of the highest seats, his camera raised, taking picture after picture, the sound strangely magnified in the deserted stadium.

"Harry! Leo! Look this way! This way!" he cried shrilly.

"Who's that?" said Fred.

"No idea," Harry lied, putting on a spurt of speed that took him as far away as possible from Colin.

"What's going on?" said Wood, frowning, as he skimmed through the air toward them. "Why's that first year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program."

"Slytherins think we're a bunch of stupid muscle-heads," Leo told him. "They're not going to spy on our training sessions."

"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver," said George.

"What makes you say that?" said Wood testily.

"Because they're here in person," said George, pointing.

Several people in green robes were walking onto the field, broomsticks in their hands.

"I don't believe it!" Wood hissed in outrage. "I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!"

Wood shot toward the ground, landing rather harder than he meant to in his anger, staggering slightly as he dismounted. Leo, Harry, Fred, and George followed.

"Flint!" Wood bellowed at the Slytherin Captain. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

Marcus Flint was even larger than Wood. He had a look of trollish cunning on his face as he replied, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie had come over, too. There were no girls on the Slytherin team - which Leo thought was mildly sexist on their part. Though he did have to admit that they looked rather intimidating as they towered over the Gryffindor team.

"But I booked the field!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"

"Ah," said Flint. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. '_I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seekers'. _"

"You've got new Seekers?" said Wood, distracted. "Where?"

And from behind the six large figures before them came a seventh, smaller boy, a frown on his pale, pointed face. It was Draco Malfoy. Standing next to him, looking quite pleased with himself, was -

"Oh, you're bloody joking," Leo groaned. "Your obsession has grown to a rather unhealthy level, Linguini."

"It's Zabini," the boy snarled. "And you bloody well know it."

"Do I?" Leo frowned, tapping his chin.

"Zabini's our reserve Seeker," Flint sneered at them. "Malfoy's the real Seeker – his father has even seen fit to donate a generous gift to the Slytherin team."

All of the Slytherins – with the exception of Draco, who looked like he wanted to sink into the ground at this moment – showed off their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words _Nimbus Two Thousand and One_ gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early morning sun.

"Very latest model. Only came out last month," said Flint carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps" — he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives — "sweeps the board with them."

"Guess when you lack talent money talks," Leo stated, raising an eyebrow when Flint loomed over him angrily. Leo looked behind him to see Hermione and Ron running over. "Oh, look, the cavalry's here."

"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing? And what's _he_ doing here?"

He was looking at Draco, taking in his Slytherin Quidditch robes.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," Draco stated with a small shrug.

"Everyone's just been admiring the brooms Malfoy's father's bought our team," Zabini informed him gleefully.

Ron gaped, open-mouthed, at the seven superb broomsticks in front of him.

"Good, aren't they?" said Zabini smoothly. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

The Slytherin team howled with laughter.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione sharply, and Draco looked down. "They got in on pure talent."

The smug look on Zabini's face flickered.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he spat.

Immediately, Leo's wand was out and pointed at Flint, who had jumped in front of Zabini defensively. Alicia shrieked, _"How dare you!"_ and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Zabini!" and pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Zabini's face.

A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backward onto the grass.

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione.

Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he gave an almighty belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap. The Slytherin team was paralyzed with laughter. Flint was doubled up, hanging onto his new broomstick for support. Zabini was on all fours, banging the ground with his fist. Draco didn't seem to know whether he should laugh or not. The Gryffindors were gathered around Ron, who kept belching large, glistening slugs. Nobody seemed to want to touch him.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," said Harry to Hermione, who nodded bravely, and the pair of them pulled Ron up by the arms.

"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin had run down from his seat and was now dancing alongside them as they left the field. Ron gave a huge heave and more slugs dribbled down his front.

"Oooh," said Colin, fascinated and raising his camera. "Can you hold him still, Harry?"

"Get out of the way, Colin!" said Harry angrily.

Before the four left the pitch, Leo turned around, pointed his wand at the unprotected Zabini, and shouted, "_Tarantellegra_!"

With a profane exclamation, Zabini's legs began wiggling and dancing all over the place, earning laughs from the Gryffindor Quidditch team this time. With a triumphant smirk on his face, Leo ran after his three friends and caught up with them just as Hagrid's cabin came into view.

"Nearly there, Ron," Hermione was saying. "You'll be alright in a minute — almost there —"

They were within twenty feet of Hagrid's house when the front door opened, but it wasn't Hagrid who emerged. Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing robes of palest mauve today, came striding out. Leo was dying to shoot him with the Dancing Feet Spell as well.

"Quick, behind here," Harry hissed, dragging Ron behind a nearby bush. Hermione and Leo followed, the latter somewhat reluctantly.

"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying loudly to Hagrid. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one — I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good-bye!" And he strode away toward the castle.

They waited until Lockhart was out of sight, then pulled Ron out of the bush and up to Hagrid's front door. They knocked urgently.

Hagrid appeared at once, looking very grumpy, but his expression brightened when he saw who it was.

"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me — come in, come in — thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again —"

"I take offense to that," Leo placed a hand over his heart and put on an expression of mock hurt.

Harry and Hermione supported Ron over the threshold into the one-roomed cabin, which had an enormous bed in one corner, a fire crackling merrily in the other. Hagrid didn't seem perturbed by Ron's slug problem, which Harry hastily explained as he lowered Ron into a chair.

"Better out than in," he said cheerfully, plunking a large copper basin in front of him. "Get 'em all up, Ron."

"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," said Hermione anxiously, watching Ron bend over the basin. "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand —"

"We could try _Finite_," Leo suggested. "But there's no telling what kind of adverse effects the broken wand may have caused. We could just end up making it worse."

Hagrid was bustling around making them tea. His boar-hound, Fang, was slobbering over Harry.

"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asked, scratching Fang's ears.

"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table and setting down the teapot. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

"Seems to be a habit of Lockhart's - giving useless advice to people who don't need it," Leo snorted.

Hermione, however, seemed to be in disagreement as she said in a voice somewhat higher than usual, "I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job —"

"He also thought Quirrell was too - and look how he turned out," Leo cut across her darkly.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room at this. None of them knew what had happened while Quirrell had been with Leo – or what had happened to him once Harry had passed out. They were all curious to know – and this seemed like a good opportunity to ask, given Leo had been the one to bring him up. Unfortunately, the blonde's tone made it quite clear that he still didn't want to talk about it.

"He was the on'y man for the job," Hagrid finally said, offering them a plate of treacle toffee, while Ron coughed squelchily into his basin. "An' I mean the on'y one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me," said Hagrid, jerking his head at Ron. "Who was he tryin' ter curse?"

"Zabini called Hermione something — it must've been really bad because everyone went wild," Harry frowned.

"It was bad," said Ron hoarsely, emerging over the tabletop looking pale and sweaty. "Zabini called her 'Mudblood,' Hagrid —"

Ron dived out of sight again as a fresh wave of slugs made their appearance. Hagrid looked outraged.

"He didn'!" he growled at Hermione.

"He did," she said. "But I don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course —"

"It's essentially a very rude term for a Muggleborn," Leo informed her, having learned all this from Draco. "There's a lot of pure-blood families – families with a long history of only magical blood – who think that they're superior to everyone who doesn't have a pedigree. Muggleborns are basically lower than scum to them. They're a bunch of elitist pricks with a superiority complex the size of Russia."

"The rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom — he's pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up," Ron stated.

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can' do," said Hagrid proudly, making Hermione go a brilliant shade of magenta.

"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," said Ron, wiping his sweaty brow with a shaking hand. "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out."

"Most pure-blood families are worse off for believing in that nonsense," Leo stated, recalling what he had read in his father's many journals. "A lot of them took up the practice of inter-marrying – not brothers and sisters though, at the very least you have to be second cousins. It caused a lot of problems – birth defects, miscarriages, Squibs – most end up being half-crazy."

"What's a Squib?" Harry asked curiously.

"Basically, they're the opposite of Muggleborns – a non-magic person born to magical parents as opposed to a magical person born to two Muggles," Leo informed him, sipping the cup of tea Hagrid gave him.

"How do you know all this, Leo?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"Some of it I learned from looking into my family. The rest I learned from Draco."

He received startled looks from three different people.

"You're friends with _Malfoy_?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Yes," Leo replied in a tone that one would use to talk about the weather. "Apparently he's like my... second/fourth cousin? I dunno. Pure-blood families are so confusing." He sipped his tea. "He's not as bad as he used to be when we first met him. You saw him stand up to his housemate after that incident with Creevey and Lockhart. He got on pretty well with Fred and George on the train ride over as well."

Harry, Hermione, and Ron – in-between vomiting slugs – still seemed skeptical at this. Fortunately, Hagrid came to his rescue.

"Harry," said Hagrid abruptly as though struck by a sudden thought. "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"

"I have _not_ been giving out signed photos," he said hotly. "If Lockhart's still spreading that around —"

He stopped when he saw that Hagrid was laughing.

"I'm on'y jokin'," he said, patting Harry genially on the back and sending him face-first into the table. "I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."

"Bet he didn't like that," said Harry, sitting up and rubbing his chin.

"Good," commented Leo, sipping his tea with a self-satisfied smile.

"Don' think he did," said Hagrid, his eyes twinkling. "An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?" he added as Ron reappeared.

"No thanks," said Ron weakly. "Better not risk it."

"Come an' see what I've bin growin'," said Hagrid as Harry and Hermione finished the last of their tea.

In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house were a dozen of the largest pumpkins Harry had ever seen. Each was the size of a large boulder.

"Gettin' on well, aren't they?" said Hagrid happily. "Fer the Halloween feast...should be big enough by then."

"Think they'll be big enough to fit a person into?" Leo inquired, walking around the pumpkins.

"Don' even think abou' it, Leo," Hagrid warned. "Don' think yeh'd be able ter get away with puttin' Lockhart in there."

"His ego would never have fit anyway," Leo shrugged dismissively, though inwardly he sighed in disappointment.

"What've you been feeding them?" said Harry.

Hagrid looked over his shoulder to check that they were alone.

"Well, I've bin givin' them — you know — a bit o' help —"

"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" said Hermione, halfway between disapproval and amusement. "Well, you've done a good job on them."

"That's what yer little sister said," said Hagrid, nodding at Ron. "Met her jus' yesterday." Hagrid looked sideways at Harry, his beard twitching. "Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house." He winked at Harry. "If yeh ask me, she wouldn' say no ter a signed —"

"Oh, shut up," said Harry. Ron snorted with laughter and the ground was sprayed with slugs.

"Watch it!" Hagrid roared, pulling Ron away from his precious pumpkins as Leo roared with laughter.

Near lunchtime, they said good-bye to Hagrid and walked back up to the castle, Ron hiccoughing occasionally, but only bringing up two very small slugs.

They had barely set foot in the cool entrance hall when a voice rang out, "There you are, Potter — Weasley." McGonagall was walking toward them, looking stern. "You will both do your detentions this evening."

"What're we doing, Professor?" said Ron, nervously suppressing a burp.

"You will be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Mr. Filch," said McGonagall. "And no magic, Weasley — elbow grease."

Ron gulped. Argus Filch, the caretaker, was loathed by every student in the school.

"And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail," said McGonagall.

Leo tensed and a feeling of dread settled over him. _He'll be alone in a room with a Defense professor..._ He bit his lower lip and stared at his cousin with mild concern. While Lockhart was only a professor by the loosest definition of the term, he was still a professor. The idea that his cousin would be spending hours with him did not sit well with Leo at all.

"Oh n — Professor, can't I go and do the trophy room, too?" said Harry desperately.

"Certainly not," said McGonagall, raising her eyebrows. "Professor Lockhart requested you particularly. Eight o'clock sharp, both of you."

"Don't suppose there's any way I can go with Harry is there, Professor?" Leo asked hopefully, loathe to leave his cousin alone with the man.

"Not unless you get detention before this evening, Black. Don't," she added sharply, noting the mischievous twinkle in his eye, "even think about it."

Leo folded his arms in front of his chest and pouted as she walked away. Then a thought occurred to him: McGonagall had forbidden him from getting in trouble just to get detention. She had not, however, completely prohibited him from attending Harry's detention.

And so, at five minutes to eight, Leo and Harry walked along the second-floor corridor to Lockhart's office. Harry gritted his teeth and knocked.

The door flew open at once. Lockhart beamed down at him.

"Ah, here's the scalawag!" he said. "Come in, Harry, come in —"

He cut off abruptly upon catching sight of Leo.

"Mr. Black, I don't believe you have detention with me this evening," Lockhart stated, losing his usual smile while he talked to the blonde.

"I don't, I'm just here to look after Harry," Leo shrugged.

"Well, as his teacher, you can rest assured that Harry is perfectly safe with me -"

"The last time a student was left alone with a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, they got kidnapped and tortured," Leo bit back at him, not noticing his slip-up. "So, excuse me if I'm not one hundred percent okay with the idea of leaving my cousin alone with you."

Leo then abruptly pushed past him into his office. Shining brightly on the walls by the light of many candles were countless framed photographs of Lockhart. He had even signed a few of them. Another large pile lay on his desk. Leo suddenly wished he had another cage full of pixies at that moment while he sat in a chair off in the corner of the room.

"You can address the envelopes!" Lockhart told Harry, as though this was a huge treat. "This first one's to Gladys Gudgeon, bless her — huge fan of mine —"

"She needs all the blessings she can get if she's your fan," Leo commented snarkily.

Lockhart elected to ignore him. Leo wasn't sure if it was because he was attempting to stop himself from saying/doing something he'd regret or if he just couldn't come up with an intelligent response. He was inclined to believe the latter.

The minutes snailed by. Leo let Lockhart's voice wash over him, occasionally making some rude or derogatory comment in response to whatever nonsense the man was spewing. Such phrases included: "Fame's a fickle friend, Harry," and "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that." When Leo mentioned that he'd read that in a fortune cookie once, Lockhart's ears burned red and he instead switched to talking about his books.

He was stopped when Harry jumped and loudly asked, "_What_?"

"I know!" said Lockhart. "Six solid months at the top of the best-seller list! Broke all records!"

"No," said Harry frantically. "That voice!"

"Sorry?" said Lockhart, looking puzzled. "What voice?"

"That — that voice that said — didn't you hear it?"

"Don't think the man can hear anyone's voice but his own, Harry," Leo yawned.

"Alright, I think we're done here," Lockhart said in an oddly flat tone. "Your detention is over, Harry. You can both leave."

Leo and Harry took off at once. It was so late that the Gryffindor common room was almost empty. Harry and Leo went straight up to the dormitory. Ron wasn't back yet. The two pulled on their pajamas, got into bed, and waited. Half an hour later, Ron arrived, nursing his right arm and bringing a strong smell of polish into the darkened room.

"My muscles have all seized up," he groaned, sinking on his bed. "Fourteen times he made me buff up that Quidditch cup before he was satisfied. And then I had another slug attack all over a Special Award for Services to the School. Took ages to get the slime off...How was it with Lockhart?"

"I had a wonderful time insulting him," Leo shrugged.

Keeping his voice low so as not to wake Neville, Dean, and Seamus, Harry told Ron and Leo exactly what he had heard. Apparently, he was hearing voices in the walls now.

"And Lockhart said he couldn't hear it?" said Ron. Leo could see him frowning in the moonlight. "D'you think he was lying? But I don't get it — even someone invisible would've had to open the door."

"I know," said Harry, lying back in his four-poster and staring at the canopy above him. "I don't get it either."

Leo frowned at this, wondering if, perhaps it was Pettigrew he had heard. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to talk to Sirius about it until Apollo returned - which most likely wouldn't be for another week.


	8. Chapter 8: Lockhart is Unhelpful

**Chapter 8: Lockhart is Unhelpful**

_Halloween approaches. I'm not sure why, but I've never been fond of the holiday. I think it's the masks. People hiding their faces – hiding who they are – it makes me nervous. Siri jumped out at me wearing a vampire mask, and I punched him in the face reflexively. I didn't even feel guilty this time – and the rest of the group found it hilarious. Perhaps Halloween isn't so bad after all._

* * *

October arrived, spreading a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle. During that time, Leo exchanged many letters with both Remus and Sirius, either asking for advice, keeping them filled in on what was happening in his life or complaining about how the Quidditch pitch was about to become the world's largest swimming pool. Raindrops the size of bullets had been thundering on the castle windows for days on end; the lake rose, the flower beds turned into muddy streams, and Hagrid's pumpkins swelled to the size of garden sheds. Oliver Wood's enthusiasm for regular training sessions, however, was not dampened, as he often pulled the team out to train during the early hours of the morning. This didn't bother Leo in the slightest, given that he still wasn't sleeping well.

He continued to find himself in McGonagall's office during the wee hours of the morning and had even been allowed to help her grade some first year assignments (the names were magically hidden, of course). She still hadn't asked Leo why he continued to roam the castle every night, but he just assumed that she knew because Dumbledore had told her what happened under the trap door. Her knowing didn't worry Leo. Harry knowing did.

Leo had recalled his slip-up in Lockhart's office and often noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione looking at him oddly ever since. He had been wary at first that they would bring it up and try to force him to talk about it, but thankfully they just resorted to continuously staring when they thought he wasn't looking.

In an effort to escape the stares, Leo had been spending increasing amounts of time with the Weasley twins or Draco – sometimes both. The group had discovered that – after years of being an insufferable prat – Draco was actually quite the cunning prankster and a brilliant potioneer. He had been recruited onto their team – which Leo lovingly called the Marauders Part Two, for lack of a better option – and invited onto their secret project involving the color-changing potion Leo and the twins had been working on.

That was what Leo found himself doing one Saturday afternoon a few days before Halloween after Quidditch practice. He, the twins, and Draco were crammed into a small passage behind a mirror – which was covered up for Leo's sake - on the fourth floor. The passage had caved in following a rather nasty explosion from one of their potion attempts, but still left the four of them room to sit, brew their potion, and debate how they could best modify it.

"- I'm just saying, certain words or phrases should trigger it," Leo was arguing hotly. "He makes a comment about his teeth and boom – they turn pink. Says something about his hair and it turns green -"

"And I'm telling you that's next to impossible," Draco shouted back, throwing his hands in the air. "You can't activate and deactivate potions with just a word or set of words -"

Fred and George stared on in amusement as the two bickered, content to stay out of the argument and just observe. The last time they had intervened, the group had devolved into fisticuffs and the twins had come off the worst for it. They had sported bloody noses and split lips by the end of it, and had decided to stay out of all future arguments. At least until now.

"What if we combined the potion with a spell?" Fred suggested.

The two blondes stopped arguing for a moment to stare at him before looking thoughtful. After a moment, Draco said that it could work, but that it would most likely have to be a very complex transfiguration spell combined with a timing charm and a phrasing spell that would activate the transfiguration properties of the potion. In short: they had their work cut out for them.

Leo headed back to the tower after that, grinning when Fred and George ran on ahead to collect their new 'pet'. When he arrived, it was to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione talking in a circle. When Leo joined them, Harry filled him in about Nearly Headless Nick inviting them to his deathday party that Halloween. Leo adamantly refused to go, stating that the only way he'd be caught at one of those parties was if he actually was dead.

He then turned to look at Fred and George Weasley, who were trying to find out what would happen if you fed a Filibuster firework to a salamander. Fred had "rescued" the brilliant orange, fire-dwelling lizard from a Care of Magical Creatures class and it was now smoldering gently on a table surrounded by a knot of curious people.

The salamander suddenly whizzed into the air, emitting loud sparks and bangs as it whirled wildly round the room. The sight of Percy bellowing himself hoarse at Fred and George, the spectacular display of tangerine stars showering from the salamander's mouth, and its escape into the fire, with accompanying explosions, sent Leo to the floor, doubling over with fits of uncontrollable laughter.

By the time Halloween arrived, Leo was glad he had refused the party invitation. The Great Hall had been decorated with the usual live bats, Hagrid's vast pumpkins had been carved into lanterns large enough for three men to sit in – Leo was still trying to work out a way to trap Lockhart and Zabini in one - and there were rumors that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons for the entertainment.

At seven o'clock, Leo waved farewell to the trio as they made their way past the Great Hall and towards the dungeon. Leo then strutted in, taking his seat at the Gryffindor table across from Fred and George and next to Lee Jordan. Halfway into the feast, the earlier rumors proved to be true as a bunch of skeletons in top hats carrying canes made their way to the front of the room.

They did a variety of dances including river-dancing, the mambo, and salsa dancing. Leo shouted that they should do the conga and they obliged, much to his delight. He immediately jumped from his seat and ran over to participate, earning laughs from much of the school. Fred, George, and Lee joined him not long after, and more people joined in on top of it. Leo's favorite moment was when Dumbledore tried and failed to get the sour-faced Snape to join in, but was successful when it came to inviting McGonagall.

Half the school had joined in by the time the Feast ended and everyone departed the Great Hall, Leo, the twins, and Draco laughing at the front. Once they reached the second floor, however, the chatter, the bustle, and the noise died suddenly as the four spotted the hanging cat and a message on the wall that read:

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE

Silence fell among the mass of students pressing forward to see the grisly sight. Then someone shouted through the quiet.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

"You first, princess!" Leo snapped back at Zabini, fully prepared to draw his wand at that moment.

"What's going on here? What's going on?"

Attracted no doubt by Zabini's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd. Then he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror.

"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked.

And his popping eyes fell on Harry.

"_You_!" he screeched in a tone that prompted Leo to run forward and stand protectively in front of his cousin. "_You_! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll—"

"_Argus_!"

Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Leo, Harry, Ron, and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket.

"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger." He stopped to stare at Leo over his half-moon spectacles. "I suppose you'll come regardless of what I say won't you, Mr. Black?"

Leo gave a firm nod as Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.

"My office is nearest, Headmaster — just upstairs — please feel free—"

"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.

The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, looking excited and important, hurried after Dumbledore; so did McGonagall and Snape.

As they entered Lockhart's darkened office there was a flurry of movement across the walls; Leo saw several of the Lockharts in the pictures dodging out of sight, their hair in rollers. The real Lockhart lit the candles on his desk and stood back. Dumbledore lay Mrs. Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged tense looks and sank into chairs outside the pool of candlelight, watching. Leo leaned back against the wall, his eyes dark and thoughtful.

The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs. Norris's fur. He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed. Snape loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression: It was as though he was trying hard not to smile. And Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her — probably the Transmogrifian Torture — I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very countercurse that would have saved her..."

At the mention of torture, Leo finally snapped.

"Unless you actually have something useful to add – a suggestion of what _actually_ happened or a solution – would you mind shutting it and leaving it to the professionals like Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore? You're being more unhelpful than usual –and that's saying something."

"Detention, Black," McGonagall stated in a sharp tone.

Leo shrugged, pleased that Lockhart had stopped talking at least.

Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand but nothing happened. She continued to look as though she had been recently stuffed. After a moment, Dumbledore straightened up.

"She's not dead, Argus," he said softly.

"Not dead?" choked Filch, looking through his fingers at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all — all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been Petrified," said Dumbledore ("Ah! I thought so!" said Lockhart, almost causing Leo to throw something at him.). "But how, I cannot say..."

"Ask him!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tearstained face to Harry.

"No second year could have done this," said Dumbledore firmly. "it would take Dark Magic of the most advanced —"

"He did it, he did it!" Filch spat, his pouchy face purpling. "You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found — in my office — he knows I'm a — I'm a —" Filch's face worked horribly. "He knows I'm a Squib!" he finished.

"I never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry said loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "And I didn't even know you were a Squib!"

"Rubbish!" snarled Filch. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"

"If I might speak, Headmaster," said Snape from the shadows and Leo had an intense feeling of foreboding.

"Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said, a slight sneer curling his mouth as though he doubted it. "But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"

"They got invited to a Deathday party," Leo informed him quickly. "Ask Sir Nicholas if you don't believe me."

"But why not join the feast afterward?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. "Why go up to that corridor?"

"Because — because —" Harry said, obviously struggling to come up with a lie. "Because we were tired and wanted to go to bed."

"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering across his gaunt face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."

"I was supposed to bring them food," Leo told him before putting on an ashamed face and looking at the trio. "Sorry, I got caught up in a conga line and forgot all about it."

Snape's dark eyes narrowed.

"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter and Black are not being entirely truthful," he said. "It might be a good idea if they were deprived of certain privileges until they are ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel they should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until they are ready to be honest."

_Fat chance of that. _Leo snorted internally.

"Really, Severus," said McGonagall sharply, "I see no reason to stop the boys playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick." Leo had to suppress a snort of laughter at this mental image. "There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong."

Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly.

Snape looked furious. So did Filch.

"My cat has been Petrified!" he shrieked, his eyes popping. "I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore patiently. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."

"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep —"

"I think – if we want the draught to _actually_ work - we should let Professor Snape do it," Leo remarked dryly.

There was a very awkward pause. On one hand, Leo had been rude to a teacher. On the other... well, he wasn't exactly wrong.

"You may go," Dumbledore said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Mr. Black, I believe Professor McGonagall would like to discuss your detention with you."

McGonagall nodded briskly before sweeping Leo out of the room after his friends ran out. She led him silently down the stairs to her office where she sat behind her desk, Leo sitting opposite her with a blank expression on his face.

"Your detention will take place tomorrow at the usual time tomorrow morning."

"The usual time being...?"

"Whenever you usually get here," McGonagall gave a small smile as Leo looked taken aback. "Despite the attitude you had, your statement to Gilderoy was not completely out of line. He was – as you put it – being unhelpful."

Leo looked at her skeptically.

"This isn't about the torture thing, is it?"

Now McGonagall looked taken aback, and Leo realized Dumbledore hadn't told her.

"Whatever do you mean, Black?" she finally asked after she regained her composure.

Leo shuffled uneasily in his seat, swallowing thickly. This was his chance – his chance to finally talk about what had happened under the trap door. But he wasn't ready. He didn't think he'd ever be ready. _Then make yourself ready._ A voice in his head said. _Are you a lion or a mouse? Summon up your Gryffindor courage and talk!_

"I -" Leo swallowed again. "Dumbledore told you that Quirrell took me hostage before he went down the trap door, right?" McGonagall nodded. "Once I got through the trap door... I made a break for it. I got through Sprout and Flitwick's rooms and made it to the chessboard. I was halfway across the board when Quirrell caught up with me and he – and he -" Leo choked back a sob, not wanting to look like a baby. "He cast the Cruciatus Curse on me."

McGonagall sat up abruptly, a small gasp that Leo ignored escaping her mouth.

"He tied me up and completed the chessboard before untying me and pushing me forward. We made it past the troll and into Snape's room. He wanted me to use my Elementalist abilities to get through the fire covering the doors. I made a smart comment and he – he did it again." Leo didn't bother holding back the tears this time as he vividly watched the moment replay before his eyes.

"I made it through the door without him, but there was no way out. I tried to break the mirror so he wouldn't be able to get the Stone, but I couldn't, not without my wand. I waited behind the door and ambushed him. We struggled, and I managed to grab my wand from inside his robes. Before I could fire off a spell, he...he used it again. Then he knocked me out with some sort of spell.

"When I came to, Harry was there, and Quirrell was trying to get him to the mirror so he could get the Stone... I broke it before he got the chance. I disarmed Quirrell, then Voldemort appeared." McGonagall subtly flinched at the name. "We talked for a bit before Harry and I took off. He tackled us to the ground but... he couldn't touch Harry. He burned when he touched him. Harry grabbed him, trying to hold him off but... whatever he was doing was killing him. I pushed him away, pointed my wand at Quirrell and..."

_"You don't have it in you, boy!" Quirrell snarled._

_"That's where you're wrong," Leo corrected him, tightening his grip on his wand. "Incendio Tria."_

"...I killed him," Leo put his hands in face, momentarily surprised when they got wet. "I-I was eleven years old and I-I k-killed someone. I-I tell myself that I-I had to – that I had no choice, that I had to protect H-Harry b-but b-but..."

Leo couldn't talk anymore as arms wrapped around him, enveloping in a tight hug. He just cried harder.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, I just wanted to give a shout-out to those of you who have been leaving reviews. I really appreciate it and it brings me a lot of joy knowing you lot are into the story I've created and that it inspires me to write more and to write better. I know I don't usually respond to reviews, but I want you all to know that I do read them and they do motivate me to continue writing Leo's story.**


	9. Chapter 9: History Lesson

**Chapter 9: History Lesson**

_Rose found out about Remus. Everyone was worried that she'd tell Lily or someone else about it, but she didn't. The next time she saw Remy, she ran up and hugged him. I don't think I've ever liked a person more than I did at that moment._

* * *

For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. During that time, Leo was finding that he was able to sleep somewhat better at night. His father and Sirius had both been right – keeping what happened locked up inside was doing him no good. The knowledge that someone other than Dumbledore – that someone he actually trusted and held in high regard – had heard his story and had not rejected him or treated him any differently was an added bonus.

Leo had been worried that McGonagall would act differently towards him after that night in her office, but she interacted with him the same as she had before she knew. She scolded him when he misbehaved, gave him stern looks when he was about to, and assigned him the same amount of homework as everyone else. Leo was disappointed at the last part.

The attack on Mrs. Norris had an effect on Hermione. It was quite usual for Hermione to spend a lot of time reading, but she was now doing almost nothing else. Nor could Harry, Leo, and Ron get much response from her when they asked what she was up to. Leo just assumed she was trying to find out more about the Chamber. He had already sent out letters to Remus and Sirius regarding that very thing and was expecting a letter from the former any day now.

It turned out he needn't have bothered. On one of the rare, few occasions he actually attended History of Magic class, he surprisingly learned something informative.

The class started out boring as ever. Binns opened his notes and began to read in a flat drone like an old vacuum cleaner until nearly everyone in the class was in a deep stupor, occasionally coming to long enough to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep again. He had been speaking for half an hour when something happened that had never happened before. Hermione put up her hand.

Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.

"Miss — er —?"

"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione in a clear voice.

Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville Longbottom's elbow slipped off his desk. Leo looked up from where he was doodling Lockhart getting chased by a werewolf, raising an eyebrow in interest.

Binns blinked.

"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk slipping and continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers —"

He stuttered to a halt.

Hermione's hand was waving in the air again.

"Miss Grant?"

"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"

"Well," said Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that I suppose." He peered at Hermione as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very _sensational_, even _ludicrous_ tale —"

"So was the Soap Blizzard of 1378, but you still told us about it," Leo reminded him.

Binns was silent at this for a moment before he heaved a heavy sigh. Leo wondered how he did this, considering he didn't have lungs.

"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see...the Chamber of Secrets...

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago — the precise date is uncertain — by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."

He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued.

"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."

Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise. Leo almost snorted with laughter as his brain made this comparison.

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.

"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

There was silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual, sleepy silence that filled Binns's classes. There was unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for more. Binns looked faintly annoyed.

"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."

Hermione's hand was back in the air.

"Sir — what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Binns in his dry, reedy voice.

The class exchanged nervous looks.

"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."

"That you know of," Leo corrected his statement in a bored tone. "There're loads of secret passages and chambers that most people don't know about – who's to say the Chamber's not one of them?"

"Mr. Block -"

Leo made a face.

"The school has been searched top to bottom since it was built, and such a thing has yet to be found," Binns sniffed. "One must, therefore, conclude that neither the Chamber or the supposed monster exists."

"So, your basis for your argument hinges on the fact that no one has seen it, therefore it does not exist?" Leo clarified. "No one can see oxygen, but we all know it exists otherwise we'd be dead."

"That will do, Mr. Blink," he said sharply, and Leo made another face. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to _history_, to solid, believable, verifiable_ fact_!"

And within five minutes, the class had sunk back into its usual torpor.

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron told Harry, Leo, and Hermione as they fought their way through the teeming corridors at the end of the lesson to drop off their bags before dinner. "But I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home..."

As Hermione nodded fervently, Leo said, "Almost all my family's been in Slytherin – and one of my best mates is there now. Being in Slytherin doesn't make you evil – being a prejudiced git does."

He pushed past the trio and made his way to the common room where he began working on the essay Binns had set. He finished later that night around the time Harry, Ron, and Hermione showed up. They all stared at each other awkwardly before Ron mumbled an apology. Leo gave a jerk of his head in response and the three relaxed, taking seats around him as they worked on their own assignments.

Ron kept blotting his Charms homework. When he reached absently for his wand to remove the smudges, it ignited the parchment. Leo gave an absent wave of his wand, dispersing the flames. Ron mumbled out a small 'thank you' and continued working on his assignment, but Hermione had stopped.

"Who can it be, though?" she said in a quiet voice, as though continuing a conversation they had just been having. "Who'd want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggleborns out of Hogwarts?"

"Let's think," said Ron in mock puzzlement. "Who do we know who thinks Muggleborns are scum?"

He looked at Hermione. Hermione looked back, unconvinced. Leo narrowed his eyes at what he was insinuating.

"If you're talking about Draco —"

"Of course I am!" said Ron. "Come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him —"

"And I've only got to look at yours to know you're a speckle-faced git -"

"Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" said Hermione skeptically, cutting across Leo in an attempt to prevent an argument.

"Look at his family," said Harry, closing his books. "The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin; he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."

Leo snorted, and the three turned to look at him.

"Lucius may be the world's most pompous arse, but there's no way he's Slytherin's heir," Leo informed them. "The whole world would know if he was. The power and prestige that would come with that name – well, let's just say he wouldn't pass up an opportunity to use it to his advantage."

"Alright, who do you think it is if you're so smart?" Ron demanded.

Leo was silent for a moment before shrugging and saying, "Slytherin's reserve Seeker."

"Zabini?"

"Yeah, him," Leo said in a somewhat dismissive tone. "No one knows who his father is – other than the fact that he was a pure-blood and presumably in Slytherin, given how pure-blood families operate. He could very well have been a descendant of Slytherin."

"Well," said Hermione cautiously, "I suppose it's possible..."

"But how do we prove it?" said Harry darkly.

"There might be a way," said Hermione slowly, dropping her voice still further with a quick glance across the room at Percy. "Of course, it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect —"

"If you're trying to convince me to join in, you can stop now. You had me at 'dangerous'," Leo grinned, leaning forward slightly.

"Alright," said Hermione. "What we'd need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Zabini a few questions without him realizing it's us."

"But that's impossible," Harry said as Ron laughed.

"No, it's not," said Hermione. "All we'd need would be some Polyjuice Potion."

"What's that?" said Ron and Harry together.

"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago —"

"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" muttered Ron.

"It's a potion that temporarily turns you into someone else," Leo rolled his eyes before noticing everyone staring at him. "Draco makes me pay attention and take notes. It's very annoying."

"Right... anyway, we could change into four of the Slytherins. No one would know it was us. Zabini would probably tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room right now, if only we could hear him," Hermione stated.

"That does sound like Linguini," Leo sighed.

"This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me," said Ron, frowning. "What if we were stuck looking like four of the Slytherins forever?"

"As Leo said, it wears off after a while," said Hermione, waving her hand impatiently. "But getting hold of the recipe will be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called _Moste Potente Potions_ and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the library."

There was only one way to get out a book from the Restricted Section: You needed a signed note of permission from a teacher.

"Hard to see why we'd want the book, really," said Ron, "if we weren't going to try and make one of the potions."

"I think," said Hermione, "that if we made it sound as though we were just interested in the theory, we might stand a chance...

"Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that," said Ron. "They'd have to be really thick..."

"Or a coward susceptible to blackmail and threats," Leo grinned evilly.

The other three seemed perturbed by this.


	10. Chapter 10: Worth It

**Chapter 10: Worth It**

_Rosier's been stalking us. Or, at least he was. James and Siri spotted him and stuck him to the ceiling while I put a Silencing Charm on him. No one found him until the end of the day when he really had to pee. The three of us now have detentions for the next month. It was worth it._

* * *

Since the disastrous episode of the pixies, Lockhart had not brought live creatures to class. Instead, he read passages from his books to them and sometimes reenacted some of the more dramatic bits. He usually picked Harry to help him with these reconstructions; so far, Harry had been forced to play a simple Transylvanian villager whom Lockhart had cured of a Babbling Curse – which Leo said he must be afflicted with -, a yeti with a head cold – Leo remarked that that was impossible since they lived in below zero temperatures and were thus unlikely to ever get head colds -, and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything except lettuce since Lockhart had dealt with him. Leo spent the last half of the class arguing about this one in particular.

Harry was hauled to the front of the class during their very next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, this time acting a werewolf. Leo wasn't sure why, but the idea of Lockhart saying that he could beat a werewolf bothered him far more than any of his other claimed accomplishments.

"Nice loud howl, Harry — exactly — and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced — like this — slammed him to the floor — thus with one hand, I managed to hold him down — with my other, I put my wand to his throat — I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm - he let out a piteous moan — go on, Harry — higher than that — good — the fur vanished — the fangs shrank — and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective — and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks."

The bell rang and Lockhart got to his feet.

"Homework — compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf! Signed copies of Magical Me to the author of the best one!"

The class began to leave. Harry returned to the back of the room, where Leo, Ron, and Hermione were waiting.

"Ready?" Harry muttered.

"Yeah, you lot might want to leave for this though," Leo shrugged, taking the piece of paper from Hermione. "Plausible deniability and all that."

The other three looked nervous at this statement but obliged, leaving the blonde alone with Lockhart for the first time ever. Leo strode further into the room, stopping at Lockhart's desk and slapping the piece of paper down in front of him.

"You're going to sign this," Leo stated simply.

"Why, Mr. Black, if you wanted my autograph, all you had to do was -" Lockhart began, beaming excitedly.

"Ew, gross, no," Leo wrinkled his nose. "Think I'd rather live in the Forbidden Forest for the rest of my life than ask for that. No. I just need a book, and you're going to let me get it."

"Oh?" Lockhart questioned, sitting up straighter with a smug expression on his face. "And if I do, what will _you_ do for _me,_ Mr. Black?"

"Not expose you to the world as the complete and total fraud we both know you are," Leo gave a small shrug.

Lockhart's face paled considerably.

"I don't - what – such an outlandish -"

"Save it," Leo snapped. "You and I both know the truth. Sign my paper and the rest of the world won't need to."

Lockhart was quiet for a moment before a broad smile stretched over his face.

"Even if I was lying about all my accomplishments – and I'm not saying I am – what proof do you have? Who would believe the nephew of an infamous mass murderer over _me_? I am a respected and talented wizard who constantly battles the darkest creatures -"

"They don't need to believe me, they just need to believe the witnesses," Leo placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward slightly. "And there will be witnesses. Loads of them. You may have persuaded people not to talk – but I happen to speak a universally understood language: money. And I have loads of it."

Lockhart's smile fell.

A few minutes later, he handed Hermione the signed permission slip before scarpering off to the girl's bathroom on the second floor where they had arranged to meet. Leo had never stepped foot in a library and wasn't planning on starting now. He felt that some things in life should remain a mystery. Libraries were one of those things.

Ten minutes later, the trio joined him. Immediately, Hermione opened _Moste Potente Potions_ carefully, and the four of them bent over the damp, spotted pages. It was clear from a glance why it belonged in the Restricted Section. Some of the potions had effects almost too gruesome to think about, and there were some very unpleasant illustrations, which included a man who seemed to have been turned inside out and a witch sprouting several extra pairs of arms out of her head. Leo made a mental note to ask Draco if he could brew that particular potion later. There were so many puns he could make with that.

"Here it is," said Hermione excitedly as she found the page headed _The Polyjuice Potion_.

It was decorated with drawings of people halfway through transforming into other people. Looking at the faces of intense pain, Leo decided he wouldn't drink the potion. He'd experienced enough pain to last several lifetimes.

"This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen," said Hermione as they scanned the recipe. "Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed, and knotgrass," she murmured, running her finger down the list of ingredients. "Well, they're easy enough, they're in the student store-cupboard, we can help ourselves...Oooh, look, powdered horn of a bicorn — don't know where we're going to get that — shredded skin of a boomslang — that'll be tricky, too and of course a bit of whoever we want to change into."

"Excuse me?" said Ron sharply. "What d'you mean, a bit of whoever we're changing into? I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it —"

Hermione continued as though she hadn't heard him.

"We don't have to worry about that yet, though, because we add those bits last..."

Ron turned, speechless, to Harry, who had another worry. "D'you realize how much we're going to have to steal, Hermione? Shredded skin of a boomslang, that's definitely not in the students' cupboard. What're we going to do, break into Snape's private stores? I don't know if this is a good idea..."

"We don't have to steal it," Leo shrugged. "Just ask Snape's favorite student to get it from him."

"You're not suggesting -"

"I am."

"But how do we know we can -"

"Because he'd love to get one over on Linguini, just like I do."

The trio exchanged a look before groaning and relenting, deciding to go along with Leo's idea. His last one had gone pretty well, after all.

"How long will it take to make, anyway?" said Harry.

"Well, since the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days...I'd say it'd be ready in about a month if we can get all the ingredients."

"A month?" said Ron. "Zabini could have attacked half the Muggleborns in the school by then!" But Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he added swiftly, "But it's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead, I say."

That Saturday, Leo trudged over to the Quidditch Pitch with the rest of the team, the only one around with high spirits. Of course, he attributed this mainly to his naturally boisterous personality as well as the fact that he lacked the ability to be easily intimidated. Especially not by a bunch of gits in green flying around on something he used to use to sweep the Dursley's floor.

The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, then sat down to listen to Wood's usual pre-match pep talk.

"Slytherin has better brooms than us," he began. "No point denying it. But we've got better people on our brooms. We've trained harder than they have, we've been flying in all weathers —"("Too true," muttered George Weasley. "I haven't been properly dry since August.") "— and we're going to make them rue the day they let that little bit of slime, Malfoy ("Oi!" Leo shouted indignantly.), buy his way onto their team."

Chest heaving with emotion, Wood turned to Harry. "It'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to."

"So no pressure, Harry," said Fred, winking at him.

Leo waved farewell to the team as he sat on the bench, taking out his wand and practicing using _Incindeo_. He was trying to learn how to cast it non-verbally, the first of many steps he was taking to master his Elementalist abilities. He was hopeful that, eventually, he'd be able to conjure it silently without the use of a wand, just like his dad could.

Leo heard the rain start to fall outside some time later. He didn't have a clue what was going on in the game until he heard Lee Jordan, who was commentating, say, "Slytherin lead, sixty points to zero."

A sharp whistle alerted Leo that something was wrong – or that they had won, either way. He ran out onto the pitch to see his team flying down and huddling together. He ran over to join them.

"What's going on?" said Wood as Leo joined them whilst Slytherins in the crowd jeered. "We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina scoring?"

"We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver," said George angrily. "Someone's fixed it — it won't leave Harry alone. It hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to it."

Leo frowned at this before turning to look at the Slytherin team and locking eyes with Zabini. He made a subtle, rude gesture and received a glare in return.

"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then..." said Wood, anxiously. Madam Hooch was walking toward them.

"Wood, if I can sneak into Lockhart's room and cover him in mice without him waking up, I think the Slytherins can sneak in and tamper with a Bludger," Leo rolled his eyes.

The rest of the team looked interested in hearing more.

"Listen," said Harry getting them back on track, "with you two flying around me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve -"

"Well, you did swallow it last time we played Slytherin -"

"Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one," Harry finished, ignoring his cousin's remark.

"Don't be thick," said Fred. "It'll take your head off."

Wood was looking from Harry to the Weasleys.

"Oliver, this is insane," said Alicia angrily. "You can't let Harry deal with that thing on his own. Let's ask for an inquiry..."

"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" said Harry. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave me alone!"

"This is all your fault," George said angrily to Wood. "'Get the Snitch or die trying,' what a stupid thing to tell him —"

Madam Hooch had joined them.

"Ready to resume play?" she asked Wood.

Wood looked at the determined look on Harry's face.

"All right," he said. "Fred, George, you heard Harry — leave him alone and let him deal with the Bludger on his own. Leo, you stay out here in case he falls and needs a Softening Charm or something."

Leo gave a salute.

The rain was falling more heavily now, and Leo had to constantly spit it out of his mouth as he stared up at the sky watching Harry as he ducked and bobbed and weaved past the Bludger. He hoped the match ended soon. He didn't want 'he drowned on land' to be carved on his gravestone. He squinted through the silver sheets of rain to the Gryffindor goal posts, where Adrian Pucey was trying to get past Wood.

He turned back to look at Harry, wincing just as the Bludger hit him in the arm. Seeing the odd angle it was now at, Leo assumed it was broken. Harry suddenly leaned forward on his broom and pelted toward Draco, who screamed and dove out of the way. Leo saw Harry's hand grasp the Snitch with his remaining hand before his broom began careening down toward the ground.

"_Spongify_!" he shouted, just before Harry landed in the mud and passed out.

He quickly ran towards his cousin, shaking him in an effort to wake him up. His team crowded around him, and many Gryffindors swarmed the field to check on their Seeker. Much to Leo's irritation, Lockhart joined them, pushing through the crowd to kneel at Harry's other side. Just then, Harry came to.

"Oh, no, not you," he moaned.

"Doesn't know what he's saying -," said Lockhart loudly to the anxious crowd of Gryffindors pressing around them.

"Oh, no, I think he knows exactly what he's saying," Leo replied, taking Harry's glasses and attempting to wipe the mud from them.

"-Not to worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm," Lockhart continued in a louder voice, trying to drown Leo out.

"No!" said Harry. "I'll keep it like this, thanks..."

He tried to sit up, but Leo pushed him back down before putting his glasses back on him. They heard a familiar clicking noise nearby.

"I don't want a photo of this, Colin," Harry said loudly.

"Lie back, Harry," said Lockhart soothingly. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times —"

"I don't think you have -" Leo argued, growing nervous and panicked at the man's insistence.

"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" said Harry through clenched teeth.

"He should really, Professor," said a muddy Wood, who couldn't help grinning even though his Seeker was injured. "Great capture, Harry, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say —"

"Stand back," said Lockhart, who was rolling up his jade-green sleeves.

"No — don't —" said Harry weakly, but Lockhart was twirling his wand, pointing it at Harry, and -

"_Depulso_!"

Lockhart flew back through the crowd, who all turned to see Leo sitting there, his wand pointed at where Lockhart had been moments ago and his chest heaving rapidly. He slowly lowered his wand as people stared at him, shocked that he had so blatantly attacked a teacher. McGonagall appeared through the crowd, looking furious.

"Well, someone had to do it," Leo said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

McGonagall was not amused.

* * *

_Uncle Siri,_

_We won our first match against Slytherin thanks to Harry. Unfortunately, there was a hitch. There was a rogue Bludger that only targeted him and ended up breaking his arm. Lockhart appeared after I made sure Harry made it safely to the ground and tried to heal his arm. Before he could finish his spell, I blasted him across the field with the Banishing Spell. McGonagall has me in detention until Christmas holidays._

_It was worth it._

_Love,_

_Leo_

_P.S.: I'll find out about Pettigrew one way or another, so you might as well tell me._


	11. Chapter 11: Linguini Gets Schooled

**Chapter 11: Linguini Gets Schooled**

_There was an attack over in Bristol yesterday, several Muggle families were killed and some students had to be called home because of it. Dumbledore set up a Dueling Club in response, hoping to prepare us for when we go home – whether it's for Christmas holidays or summer ones. I usually try to stay out of fights, but I know I have to be prepared for when I eventually get drawn into one. How can I protect my brothers and my friends if I can't even protect myself?_

* * *

The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through Gryffindor tower by the following morning. Leo himself had heard it during the first of many early-morning detentions he had with McGonagall. Whilst writing "_I must not attack a professor_" - he put the word 'professor' in quotation marks, McGonagall was not amused – over and over again, Flitwick had walked in and questioned her if the Creevey boy was alright. Naturally, this raised Leo's curiosity.

McGonagall had promptly shooed him from the room, instructing him to keep what he had heard to himself. Leo wasn't sure why she had told him this as, once he got to the Gryffindor Common Room, everyone in his house already knew. Amongst cheers and claps on the back from the Gryffindor boys for his attack on Lockhart, he managed to discover that Creevey had been petrified. Just like Mrs. Norris.

Shortly after that, Hermione and Ron had dragged him away to go work on the Polyjuice Potion back in Moaning Myrtle's – a girl who died fifty some-odd years ago in the girl's bathroom and now haunted it – bathroom. Leo was half-tempted to tell them about the passage on the fourth floor but ultimately decided against it since it was a Marauder secret.

They picked a stall and set up the cauldron – Leo lighting a waterproof fire beneath it – and Hermione set to work with Ron reading out instructions and Leo handing over ingredients. They were about to add in knotgrass when they heard the bathroom door open and fell silent.

"It's me," Harry's voice called, followed by the sound of the door closing behind him.

Hermione let out a gasp and opened the door.

"Harry!" she said. "You gave us such a fright — come in. How's your arm?"

"Fine," said Harry, squeezing into the stall after Leo exited to make room for him.

Despite the fact that Lockhart had been unable to do any sort of damage to Harry's already broken arm, Pomfrey had insisted on him staying overnight for observation after healing the break. Leo felt that was for the best – the strict matron would most certainly keep Lockhart out and stop him from interfering with her work.

"We'd've come to meet you, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron explained. "We've decided this is the safest place to hide it."

Harry started to tell them about Colin, but Hermione interrupted.

"We already know — we heard from some of Colin's friends when he wasn't in bed this morning. That's why we decided we'd better get going —"

"The sooner we get a confession out of Zabini, the better," snarled Ron. "D'you know what I think? He was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, he took it out on Colin."

"Nah, that doesn't sound like him," Leo remarked, leaning over to check on Hermione's work. "I reckon he's just flexing – figuring out what he can do and what his limits are. Colin was just a stepping stone to something bigger."

"Like what?" Ron inquired curiously.

Leo merely gave a shrug, not entirely sure.

"There's something else," said Harry as Hermione tore bundles of knotgrass and threw them into the potion. "Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night."

Leo blinked at him in surprise. Harry told them about how Dobby had both closed the barrier and set the Bludger on him. Leo remarked that Dobby would end up doing him in long before the monster even got close if he kept it up. He received murmurs of agreement all around before Harry told them the most important bit -

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione said.

"This settles it," said Ron in a triumphant voice. "Zabini's father must've opened the Chamber when he was at school here and must've left some sort of instructions for his son on how to do it. It's obvious. Wish Dobby'd told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school."

"Maybe it can make itself invisible," said Hermione, prodding leeches to the bottom of the cauldron. "Or maybe it can disguise itself — pretend to be a suit of armor or something — I've read about Chameleon Ghouls —"

Leo wondered if, perhaps, the creature was getting around the same way Pettigrew was.

By Monday morning, everyone had heard about Creevey. The air was suddenly thick with rumor and suspicion. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups, as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone.

Ginny Weasley, who sat next to Colin Creevey in Charms, was distraught, and Leo felt that Fred and George were going the right way about cheering her up. They were taking turns covering themselves with fur or boils and jumping out at her from behind statues. They only stopped when Percy, apoplectic with rage, told them he was going to write to Mrs. Weasley and tell her Ginny was having nightmares. Leo said that the only thing that was giving her nightmares was Percy prancing about yelling at everyone. He lost five points that day.

Meanwhile, hidden from the teachers, a roaring trade in talismans, amulets, and other protective devices was sweeping the school. Neville Longbottom bought a large, evil-smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal, and a rotting newt tail from Leo – who was testing to see whether anyone would buy this garbage - before the other Gryffindor boys pointed out that he was in no danger; he was a pure-blood, and therefore unlikely to be attacked.

"They went for Filch first," Neville said, his round face fearful. "And everyone knows I'm almost a Squib."

"Almost isn't quite, Nev," Leo replied, reluctantly taking his items back and refunding the boy under Hermione's intense glare. "You're still magical and – most importantly – a pure-blood. That's all that mattered to old Sally."

Neville seemed somewhat cheered by this thought.

In the second week of December McGonagall came around, as usual, collecting names of those who would be staying at school for Christmas. Harry, Ron, and Hermione signed her list, Leo did not. He had gotten an invitation from Remus about staying over for the Christmas holidays and had gladly accepted. Harry, who didn't know about Remus, just assumed that he wanted to get away from Hogwarts for a bit and stay at Grimmauld. Leo didn't bother to correct him.

Most of the Slytherins – including Zabini and Draco – would also be staying for Christmas. Harry, Ron, and Hermione – whom Leo dubbed 'The Trio of Righteousness' - decided that would be the perfect opportunity to worm a confession out of Zabini. The only snag: the potion was only half-finished. They still needed bicorn horn and boomslang skin.

Leo approached Draco one afternoon a few days before their double potions class and asked if he could get the ingredients. When Draco asked why he needed it, Leo informed him that it was 'for Linguini'. He had the ingredients the following day. When asked how he had obtained them, Draco simply shrugged and stated that he told Snape he needed it for Lockhart. Leo had snorted with laughter at this.

Potions lessons took place in one of the large dungeons. Thursday afternoon's lesson proceeded in the usual way. Twenty cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled through the fumes, making waspish remarks about the Gryffindors' work while the Slytherins snickered appreciatively.

At the beginning of class, Leo dragged Draco to the back along with the other Gryffindors, who looked at the pair with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. He angled himself at the end of the table where he would have a good line of sight to Zabini's cauldron. He grinned wickedly before schooling his expression as Snape strode by to check on his and Draco's potion. It had been too long since he had caused any sort of mischief around the school – and it would be an even longer time once he took off for Christmas holidays.

Leo concentrated on the flame below the cauldron that contained Zabini's Swelling Solution, willing the temperature to increase. The blonde had discovered that, while he wasn't yet able to conjure flames non-verbally or without the use of his wand, the same principle did not apply to fire that was already there. If he concentrated hard enough, he was able to increase and decrease the fire's heat level and power and had, on occasion, been able to snuff it out altogether.

It took a full minute for the flame to rise to its desired temperature and do what Leo wanted: which was make Zabini's solution explode. People shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them. Zabini got a faceful and his head began to swell like a balloon, matching his ego. Goyle blundered around, his hands over his eyes, which had expanded to the size of a dinner plate — Snape was trying to restore calm and find out what had happened.

"Silence! SILENCE!" Snape roared. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draught — when I find out who did this —"

Leo tried not to laugh as he watched Zabini hurry forward, his head practically scraping the ground at this point. As half the class lumbered up to Snape's desk, some weighted down with arms like clubs, others unable to talk through gigantic puffed-up lips, Leo silently high-fived Draco under the table.

When everyone had taken a swig of antidote and the various swellings had subsided, Snape swept over to Zabini's cauldron, trying to find evidence of foul play. Despite not finding anything, he glared at Leo, who set about putting the finishing touches on his potion. He didn't think he'd be able to keep a straight face if he made direct eye contact with the man.

"If I ever find out who tampered with this potion," Snape whispered, "I shall make sure that person is expelled."

Leo refrained from commenting that Zabini could very well have just screwed up. He didn't think Snape would find it quite as amusing as everyone else in the class would.

A week later, Leo and the Trio were walking across the entrance hall when they saw a small knot of people gathered around the notice board, reading a piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas beckoned them over, looking excited.

"They're starting a Dueling Club!" said Seamus. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days..."

"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" said Ron, but he, too, read the sign with interest.

"Not likely," Leo snorted with amusement. "If it doesn't have opposable thumbs, it can't hold a wand – or sword, if you're into that sort of thing – and therefore can't duel."

"Still, it could be useful," Ron shrugged as they went down to dinner. "Shall we go?"

Leo shrugged, stating that he had nothing better to do than to blast people on their arse in a school-sanctioned duel. And so, eight o'clock that evening he and his friends hurried back to the Great Hall. The long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" said Hermione as they edged into the chattering crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young — maybe it'll be him."

"Long as it's not McGonagall," Leo groused. "Don't reckon she'd let me within a hundred feet of a Dueling Club if she was heading it. Too many possible injuries."

"I don't care who it is, as long as it's not —" Harry began, but he ended on a groan alongside Leo: Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black.

Leo grinned wickedly upon spotting the Potions professor, hopeful that the two would give a demonstration.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions — for full details, see my published works."

"Why would he want us to read his books if he wants us to learn something?" Leo mumbled in a bewildered tone, eliciting snorts of laughter from Harry and Ron.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry — you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"I'm more worried about us still having our Defense professor," Leo snickered, eyes shining gleefully as he watched the two.

Snape's upper lip curled, and the blonde's grin grew even wider. With an expression like that, it was sure to be quite the show.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"Aww," Leo pouted, earning bouts of laughter from the people closest to him.

"One — two — three —"

Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: "_Expelliarmus_!" There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor. Leo wished he still had Dudley's camera at that moment.

Draco and some of the other Slytherins cheered. Hermione was dancing on tiptoes. "Do you think he's alright?" she squealed through her fingers.

"Who cares?" said Harry and Ron together at the same time as Leo replied, "I hope not."

Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.

"Well, there you have it!" he said, tottering back onto the platform. "That was a Disarming Charm — as you see, I've lost my wand — ah, thank you, Miss Brown — yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy — however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see..."

Snape was looking murderous, and Leo didn't blame him. Possibly Lockhart had noticed, because he said, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me —"

They moved through the crowd, matching up partners. Lockhart teamed Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley, but Snape reached Harry and Ron first.

"Time to split up the dream team, I think," he sneered. "Weasley, you can partner Finnigan. Potter —"

Harry moved automatically toward Hermione.

"I don't think so," said Snape, smiling coldly. "Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger — you can partner Miss Bulstrode. Black." He seemed to pause for a moment. "You can partner with Mr. Zabini."

"Who?" Leo frowned as Zabini strutted through the crowd toward him. "Oh! You mean Linguini. Hiya, Linguini."

"I'm going to wipe the smugness from your face, Black," Zabini snarled.

"Doubtful, but you're welcome to try," Leo smiled pleasantly.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform. "And bow!"

Zabini gave a minuscule incline of his head. Leo merely itched his nose with the middle finger of his left hand.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents — only to disarm them — we don't want any accidents — one...two...three —"

Leo swung his wand high, but Zabini had already started on "two", prompting Leo to swiftly duck and roll to the side shouting, "_Expelliarmus_!"

As Zabini's wand flew off into the crowd, the boy gave Leo a murderous expression, which the blonde responded to by smiling and waggling his fingers. Zabini took an angry step towards him, and Leo raised his wand, narrowing his eyes as though saying "I dare you". Zabini stopped in his tracks, looking furious.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted in alarm over the heads of the battling crowd.

Leo flicked his eyes around the room to see that he had been the only one to follow instructions. He was furious with himself. He had actually_ listened_ to Lockhart._ I can't wait to get out of here for Christmas._ He groaned before abruptly turning his gaze back to Zabini, who had inched forward slightly while he had been momentarily distracted.

"Stop! Stop!" screamed Lockhart, but Snape took charge.

"_Finite Incantatem_!" he shouted.

A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the scene. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, apologizing for whatever his broken wand had done; but Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Leo and Harry leaped forward and pulled Millicent off. It was difficult, as she was quite large and had Hermione locked in much like a crocodile who had bitten into a person.

"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. "Up you go, Macmillan..."

"Careful there, Miss Fawcett...Pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second..."

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away. "Let's have a volunteer pair — Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you —"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville's round, pink face went pinker. "How about a more... unorthodox pair? You and Black, perhaps?"

Lockhart's face paled considerably while Leo's lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Myself and Black? That's a bit ridiculous now isn't it, Severus?" Lockhart chuckled nervously. "Given my undeniable skill and experience in combat, pitting me against a student is quite dangerous -"

"I think you'll find Black's abilities to be quite..." Snape seemed to shudder. "Adequate." He paused for a moment. "Besides, I would've thought you'd relish the chance to put Black in his place, given the utter humiliation he dealt you at the last Quidditch match."

"Well, I – that's not to say – he took me by surprise and -," Lockhart stammered, only to stop and notice everyone staring at him expectantly. "Oh, fine, very well then."

Leo almost shrieked with glee. This was by far the greatest Christmas present anyone had ever given him. He made a mental note not to prank Snape for the rest of the year and to send him some sort of thank you present for Christmas. Leo was about to stroll to the end of the hall to face Lockhart when Snape suddenly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the side.

"Do not think that this means that I, in any particular way, like you Black," Snape sneered. "This simply means that I loathe Lockhart more - for the moment."

"Understandable. He really does make it quite difficult to like him, sir," Leo shrugged before giving an evil grin. "That's only going to make his defeat taste all the sweeter."

"Perhaps I can assist with that..."

Snape whispered a spell in his ear, before showing him the proper wand movements and sending him on his way. Leo wasn't quite sure what the spell would do, but he was quite eager to find out._ I swear, though, if it just shoots bubbles or some nonsense like that, I'm sending that color-change potion to him._ Leo vowed as he faced Lockhart.

They both gave deep, flourishing bows. Leo was upset that Lockhart had stolen his move.

"Three — two — one — _go_!" Lockhart shouted.

Leo raised his wand quickly and bellowed, "_Serpensortia_!"

Much to both his and Lockhart's surprise, a long red snake shot out of the wand, fell heavily onto the floor between them, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.

"Don't move, Professor Lockhart," said Snape lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of the man standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake almost as much as Leo was. "I'll get rid of it..."

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart. He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.

Suddenly, Harry leaped forward and began hissing at the snake. And miraculously — inexplicably — the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick, red jump rope, its eyes now on Harry.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin shouted before turning and storming out of the hall.

Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at Harry in an unexpected way: It was a shrewd and calculating look, and Leo didn't much like it. Loathe as he was to abandon his duel with Lockhart, Leo ran over and grabbed Harry by his robes, escorting him out of the hall with Ron and Hermione following swiftly after them.

As they went through the doors, the people on either side drew away as though they were frightened of catching something. Leo didn't have a clue what was going on but had a strong feeling that he had to get Harry as far away from everyone else as possible. He didn't stop moving until he had dragged him all the way up to the empty Gryffindor common room.

Then Ron pushed Harry into an armchair and said, "You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Partial mouth?" Leo frowned, turning his head to the side to check and make sure Harry's mouth was okay. "His face looks just fine to me."

"Not a partial mouth, a Parselmouth!" said Ron as though this would clear everything up. "He can talk to snakes!"

"I know," said Harry. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once — long story — but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to that was before I knew I was a wizard —"

"It was quite brilliant," Leo nodded, smiling at the memory. "Felt bad for the poor fellow, though."

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron repeated faintly.

"So?" said Harry. "I bet loads of people here can do it. Leo was talking to the snake too!"

"Yeah, but I talk to all the animals, not just snakes," Leo pointed out as he sunk onto one of the couches.

Ron shook his head.

"It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad."

"What's bad?" said Harry, starting to look quite angry. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin —"

"Oh, that's what you said to it?"

"What d'you mean? You were there — you heard me —"

"I heard you speaking Parseltongue," said Ron. "Snake language. You could have been saying anything — no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something — it was creepy, you know —"

Harry gaped at him.

"I spoke a different language? But — I didn't realize — how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?" He rounded on Leo. "Why didn't you ever tell me I was speaking another language?"

"Honestly? I just thought you liked making funny noises," Leo shrugged in response, not quite seeing what all the fuss was about.

Ron shook his head. Both he and Hermione were looking as though someone had died. Neither Leo or Harry could see what was so terrible.

"D'you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head?" Harry said. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"It matters," said Hermione, speaking at last in a hushed voice, "because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent."

Leo sat bolt upright.

"That's it!" he shouted excitedly, receiving stares from the other three. "The monster – the creature in the chamber – it has to be a snake!"

Ron and Harry looked incredulous. Hermione looked skeptical.

"Leo, I'm sure we'd notice a giant snake running round the school -"

"Unless it looked like Lockhart, I don't think you would."

Hermione chucked a pillow at him.


	12. Chapter 12: The Truth Comes Out

**Chapter 12: The Truth Comes Out**

_James invited Siri and me to his place for the Christmas holidays. Much as I wanted to accept, I had to decline. Someone has to protect Reggie, after all._

* * *

There was a double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick that turned what had hitherto been nervousness into real panic. Curiously, it was Nearly Headless Nick's fate that seemed to worry people most. What could possibly do that to a ghost? people asked each other; what terrible power could harm someone who was already dead? Leo remarked that it had to be the babe – the babe with the power of voodoo. His obscure reference only served to confuse people more.

"It's like these people have never seen _Labyrinth_!" he complained one morning. "It's only the greatest movie of all time!"

"What's a movie?" Ron inquired curiously.

Leo gasped and – in a very Hermione-ish way – lectured him on the amazingness of movies and the joy of the cinema. He had been quite bored during the first half of the summer, and so spent his time catching up on all the movies the Dursleys had never let him watch. _Labyrinth_ and the _Monty Python_ movies were by far his favorite.

Unfortunately, while Leo was having a grand old time, reveling in the chaos and confusing people, Harry was not doing quite as well. People constantly skirted around him in the corridors, as though he was about to sprout fangs or spit poison.

Leo and the twins, however, found all this very funny. They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through..."

Percy was deeply disapproving of this behavior.

"It is not a laughing matter," he said coldly.

"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. "Harry's in a hurry."

"Yeah, he's off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fanged servant," said George, chortling.

"Bad luck, old chaps. We've run out of tea," Leo placed on a worried expression. "Please don't petrify me. At least, not until I get into position first."

Ginny didn't find it amusing either.

"Oh, don't," she wailed every time Fred asked Harry loudly who he was planning to attack next, or when George pretended to ward Harry off with a large clove of garlic when they met.

Leo liked to make various poses and say 'my body is ready'. Draco almost snorted oatmeal out of his nose the first time he saw this. Unfortunately, Zabini spotted this and was about to start pointing and laughing at Draco when his cereal suddenly exploded in his face. Everyone looked at Leo, automatically assuming that he was the one who did it, but he was just as shocked as they were. When he spotted Draco's self-satisfied smirk, Leo couldn't have been more proud.

At last, the term ended, and Leo boarded the train headed towards King's Cross. He sat with Lee Jordan and the other members of the Gryffindor team. They joked and laughed and played various games of Exploding Snap. Now and again, Wood would bring up Quidditch and tried to get everyone to get on board and help him plan out the next match. Leo politely informed him that he'd be more than happy to officiate the wedding between him and the game, silencing him rather quickly.

Soon enough, the train pulled into the station and everyone disembarked. Leo dragged his trunk and empty owl cage off the train, onto a trolley, and off the platform. He looked around the station, quickly spotting Remus in a long and threadbare overcoat covering a shabby jumper and trousers. He pushed his trolley forward quickly and, when he got close enough, enveloped the man in a tight hug, almost knocking him over.

"Don't think I've ever had anyone quite so happy to see me," Remus chuckled, hugging him back.

"Maybe you should fix that," Leo grinned before stepping back. "Invest in a dog or something. They're always happy to see you."

"So I've heard," Remus replied with a wry smile before taking Leo's trolley and leading them out of the station. "Have you ever had a dog?"

"No, but I've always wanted one," Leo sighed. "The Dursleys thought about getting Dudley one, but they reconsidered after I convinced his aunt's dog to chase him round the yard."

Remus snorted in amusement.

"What kind of dog did you have in mind?"

"A big, black, shaggy one," Leo grinned widely, missing how Remus's face paled. "Something that looks like it could tear your face off but ends up being really sweet and lovable."

"Yes, well," Remus said after he took a moment to recover. "Don't think you should be getting one any time soon. You still have school – and dogs aren't allowed."

"I know," Leo shrugged in response. "Not like I'd be able to get one anyway. Apollo gets super jealous when there are any other animals in the room with me. Except for Hedwig – but that's just because he fancies her."

Remus just smiled in amusement at this before pulling them off into an alley and out of sight of everyone. Once there, he shrunk Leo's trunk and owl cage before putting them both in his pocket. He held out his arm to Leo, who took it, and they Disapparated away.

When they landed and Leo looked upon Remus's house, he had to admit he was surprised at what he found. He had been expecting a shabby hut or small cottage. Instead, there stood a large, two-story cottage with a sprawling, plot of land before it, what appeared to be a barn off in the distance, and a small forest sprawling out behind it all. Surrounding the entire property was a large stone fence that he didn't think even Remus would be able to see over. There was no gate that he could see.

"Have to be honest, I wasn't expecting the house to be this nice," Leo commented.

"And yet you came anyway?" Remus asked with a tone of mild surprise.

Leo shrugged.

"It's not about the things you have, it's about who you are."

"Now who's the philosopher?" Remus chuckled, earning a small smile from the boy. "To be quite frank, this isn't actually my house."

"Never picked you as someone who would break into someone's house, Remy," Leo remarked. "You just became a hundred times cooler – and you were already pretty cool to begin with."

"Thanks, I think," Remus replied in a dry tone. "This house used to belong to your parents. They left it to me in their will and, well... I wanted to, at the very least, hold onto it for you."

"My parents lived here?" Leo asked incredulously, his eyes widening comically.

"Yes, and they were quite insistent – despite my many, many refusals – that I stay with them. They could be surprisingly stubborn when they wanted to be," Remus informed him before glancing downward at him. "A trait that you share with them, I'm sure."

"I think Professor Minnie would agree with you there."

Remus then chauffeured him inside. They were immediately greeted by a rather open living room that contained a fireplace, various dark grey couches, white walls, and light, wooden floors. Leo was surprised to find a record player and a Muggle telly with a VHS player. Remus informed him that Cas had been quite fascinated with the Muggle world and wanted to incorporate some of their more ingenious inventions into his home.

The rest of the first floor contained a spacious kitchen/dining room – Leo was starting to notice that a lot of the rooms were rather open – a bedroom off to the side of the kitchen that Remus stayed in, a full bathroom, and a locked door that refused to budge no matter how hard Leo pulled it. Remus informed him that it led down to the basement before he took him up the stairs.

There were four bedrooms – one of which, his parents' room, had an attached bathroom – and one other bathroom. Remus informed him that two of the other rooms were guest rooms, meant for the Potters or Sirius to stay the night. Leo couldn't quite bring himself to enter his parent's room, so instead, he opened the door to what used to be his room.

Against the wall stood a dark wooded crib, above which was suspended a mobile with various animals made of ice – most of them canine, though Leo did spot a doe, a stag, a unicorn, and a cat. The walls were a dark grey with white trimming, and the floor was covered in plush, white carpet. There was a dark dresser/changing table opposite the crib and an overflowing toy chest in the corner of the room. Several comfortable bean bag chairs littered the center of the room and, when Remus flicked off the lights, stars swirled above his head, reminding him starkly of the ceiling in the Great Hall.

"Cas was inspired by the ceiling in the Great Hall," Remus told him, seeming to read his mind. "He has this same ceiling in his own room and tried to persuade me to put one in mine. One of the few times I've ever won an argument with the man."

"It's brilliant," Leo stated, continuing to stare upward in awe before shaking himself. "So, what's in the basement?"

"Can't tell you, I'm afraid," Remus informed him, leading him out of the room and down the stairs. "It's a secret."

Leo merely stopped and raised an eyebrow at the man. Remus seemed to realize his mistake for he sighed and tapped the knob of the door with his wand, allowing it to unlock and swing open. Leo took off down the stairs before Remus could change his mind. At the bottom of the stairs was another door. This one was made of steel and heavily reinforced. Leo opened it and was surprised to find a dungeon-esque room. Heavy chains were attached to the floor, looking as though they were bought quite recently. Bits of fur and dried blood covered the stone walls and floor as Leo looked around in steadily growing horror.

"What-what is this place?" he asked, turning as Remus came down the stairs.

Remus seemed to debate answering the question but ultimately decided that Leo should know just what exactly he was spending his holiday with.

"It's a sort of emergency room I had Cas build," Remus informed him. "It's meant to house werewolves. Or, well, one werewolf in particular."

"What were -" Leo stopped suddenly, staring at Remus.

Seconds ticked by as the blonde continued to stare, mouth slightly agape as he realized what exactly Remus was implying. When seconds turned to minutes, Remus started to grow worried and was instantly regretting coming clean to the boy. At least until Leo found his voice.

"Holy shit," he exclaimed. "That's so bloody wicked! What's it like? Do you have a name for him? Do you ever have the urge to chase cats? Chew bones? Lick your own -"

"Alright, I think I get it," Remus cut him off with a nervous chuckle as he began to lead him back up the stairs. "In order: it's awful, Moony, no, no, and _absolutely not._"

Leo stopped suddenly at hearing this, a shrewd expression on his face as the gears turned in his mind. Remus turned to look at him quizzically, prompting the blonde to run up the stairs to catch up to him. They exited the basement and made their way back into the living room.

"Wow," Leo whispered, his eyes still wide in amazement as he sat down in an armchair. He hesitated for a moment before making a decision. "Who else knew?"

"Yours and Harry's parents of course," Remus replied as he sat down. "A few of our other friends knew as well -"

"You mean Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew?" Leo asked ruefully.

Remus' gaze sharpened.

"How do you know about them?"

"My uncle is the first thing that gets brought up when I meet someone new. I got curious and asked about it," Leo gave a small shrug. "Figured if you knew my dad, you must know my uncle."

"I thought I did," Remus grimaced. "He's not the person I thought he was -"

"Or maybe he is," Leo remarked. "He's innocent, I know he is."

"Leo, I'm sorry to say that -" Remus began with a sigh.

"You're wrong," Leo shook his head. "He's innocent, I can prove it."

He asked Remus to unshrink his trunk and, curious despite himself, the werewolf did so. Leo rummaged about for a bit before pulling out an old bit of parchment and an envelope with his name on it. Remus' face paled considerably at the sight of the parchment. Leo thrust it into his hands.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Remus asked, feigning ignorance.

"I think you know what," Leo replied in a tone that made it quite clear that Remus wouldn't be able to get out of this.

"Where did you even -"

"Friends. Now open it."

With a sigh, Remus took out his wand, tapped the paper, and said, "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._"

At once, the Map sprawled out before them, showing the vastly empty corridors with only a few people here and there walking about in groups or sitting in their common rooms. Leo directed Remus's attention to the boys' dorm, where the name 'Peter Pettigrew' sat alone and in the same place as it always had. Remus became rigid in shock.

"But that's -"

"Yeah."

"But he's supposed to be -"

"He's not."

"But that means -"

"Yeah."

"... I'm a git."

"Don't worry, Remy," Leo patted his shoulder sympathetically. "It took me almost a whole month to figure it all out."

"And how exactly did you figure it out?"

Leo hesitated for a moment before handing him the letter – the first letter Sirius had ever written to him. Remus gave him a mildly disapproving look.

"Pretty sure exchanging letters with someone in Azkaban is illegal."

"Save the judgment until after you read the letter, Moonshine."

Remus gave a snort of amusement despite himself before opening the letter and perusing the contents. About halfway through, his face turned pale and his hands began to shake. When he finished, he set the letter off to the side and put his hands on his face, rubbing it slowly. After a moment, he put his hands down and looked at Leo with a curious expression.

"Did you know he was innocent? Before this, I mean?" he inquired, holding up the letter.

Leo shook his head.

"No. But I saw Pettigrew's name on the Map and realized that something wasn't quite right with the story. Why would someone who's supposed to be dead be hiding at Hogwarts? Especially when the person who's supposed to have killed him is supposed to be behind bars? I sent Sirius a letter, and he proved my suspicions correct," Leo paused before pouting and crossing his arms over his chest. "But he still won't tell me how to find Pettigrew."

"That's surprisingly responsible for him."

"I know, it's very annoying," Leo replied in a cross tone. "So, how do we get him out?"

"Sirius?" Remus confirmed, receiving a nod. "We can't do anything until we have Peter. Even then, it'll take quite some time convincing anyone that Sirius is innocent, given -"

"The public thinks he's a mass-murdering lunatic that comes from a family blacker than our name?" Leo suggested, receiving a small chuckle and a nod in return. "Yeah, I figured as much. Still, until we can find Pettigrew, he'll be happy to know that one of his best mates knows he's innocent."

"You're still sending letters to him?" Remus asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I'm expecting Apollo to bring one back from him any day now. Why?"

"There's something I want to tell him..."

* * *

Christmas morning dawned bright before Apollo returned with Sirius's response. In it, the man praised him for his feats against Lockhart, seeming quite amused that he had bested the man in front of an entire school. He was sympathetic about the detentions and adamant in his refusal to help him in his quest to find Pettigrew. To quote him directly, _'Leo, there's no way I'm going to tell you how to find that little rat, so just drop it_.' Remus seemed to find this funny, but Leo didn't quite understand why.

The two decided to wait to send their letters until the day before the end of the Christmas holidays, wanting to give Apollo plenty of time to recover. In the meantime, they set about opening their presents. Leo ended up getting a photograph that depicted himself blasting Lockhart away – the last picture Colin had taken – from Harry. This got quite a laugh from him, and he made the ultimate decision to frame it and hang it once he got back to Hogwarts. From Ron, he got a box of chocolate frogs and a letter saying the presents from his mum were at the school. From Hermione, he got – he shrieked with delight, prompting Remus to cover his ears at the high-pitched noise – a VHS copy of _Labyrinth_. Draco and the twins sent him a single note with two words: _It's ready. _

Finally, there were only two presents left, one for each of them. Remus received a new cloak with a built-in warming charm from Leo and barely managed to stammer his thanks to the boy. Leo had the same response upon opening his own present and finding an album full of photos of his parents. He had never been so touched.

Afterward, the two ran outside and had a spectacular snowball fight. The best part was, due to the wards placed in and around the property, Leo could practice magic without setting off the Trace. He used this to his advantage quite often, usually casting _Incindeo_ to keep from being hit. Remus put an end to this by casting a silent spell and stringing him upside down by his ankle. From there, he was free to hit the blonde with as many snowballs as he possibly could.

Around noon, the two headed back inside to clean up and sat down with mugs of hot chocolate and board games. Remus tried to get him to play chess, but Leo took one look at the board and flipped it before taking a set of Muggle playing cards out of a kitchen drawer. Remus thought this was progress, considering that, during the summer, the blonde generally ran from the room upon spotting one of those boards.

He surprised Remus with his ability to play blackjack and poker, which Leo said was something he picked up after years of public school. After dinner – which consisted of pizza that Remus picked up - they played a game of Exploding Snap before settling down to watch _Labyrinth_. All in all, Leo would say it was the best Christmas he had ever had.


	13. Chapter 13: Valentines Fun

**Chapter 13: Valentines Fun**

_Christmas turned out to be not quite so terrible this year. _He_ wasn't there, and neither was Bellatrix or her husband. Think mum said they were on a mission for old Moldywarts. I felt bad for whatever people she was most likely hurting, and even worse when I felt relieved that she wasn't here. I'm a bloody coward._

* * *

The rest of the Christmas holidays were mostly uneventful. Leo and Remus mainly split their time between sporadic snowball fights, practicing a few dueling techniques, and regaling each other with tales of pranks they had either pulled or witnessed. Leo already had plans to put some of Remus' stories in action.

The day before he was supposed to board the train, Remus asked if he could use Apollo for a bit to write letters to Sirius. Leo didn't really see much of a problem with it, but he made sure to ask Apollo for his permission first before he agreed. Much to his surprise, the barn owl agreed to stay with Remus and deliver messages for him. Apparently, Azkaban was much closer to his parents' house than it was to Hogwarts. Leo was a tad bit nervous at the idea of going back to Hogwarts without his friend but knew it was what was best for Sirius and Remus both.

Upon his return to Hogwarts the following day, he was surprised to find not just Harry and Ron, but Draco waiting for him as well. He felt as though he had stepped into the _Twilight Zone_ for a moment and immediately demanded an explanation. Harry and Ron had explained that Draco had saved their arses from being caught by Zabini and had managed to come up with a convenient lie for Hermione – who was now part cat, thanks to a poorly mishandled Polyjuice Potion – that kept her and them out of trouble. Draco wasn't exactly friends with the Trio now, but he had somewhat redeemed himself in their eyes and was now more tolerable to be around.

They then filled him in on Zabini, not that there was much to fill him in on. Zabini was every bit as clueless as the rest of them – even Draco knew more than he did! He informed Leo and the Trio about everything he knew about the Chamber – most of which they had already known – including one detail they hadn't: a Muggleborn had died the last time the Chamber had been opened.

Leo wasn't quite sure what to do with that bit of information but decided to file it away for future review. As January flew into February, only three things of note happened. The first was that Harry and Ron discovered a blank, fifty-year-old diary in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and decided to keep it. The second was Hermione had gotten out of the hospital wing. Last was that Leo and the rest of the Minirauders – as he had changed the name to, owing to the fact that Marauders 2.0 was too long of a name to say – had put the finishing touches on their potion and now all they had to do was figure out a way to deliver it to where it needed to go. Leo gave a wicked grin and said he'd handle it.

The sun had now begun to shine weakly on Hogwarts again. Inside the castle, the mood had grown more hopeful. There had been no more attacks since those on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, and Madam Pomfrey was pleased to report that the Mandrakes were becoming moody and secretive, meaning that they were fast leaving childhood.

Leo felt that the Heir, whoever it may be, was gearing up for another attack. He was certain that they were biding their time, searching for their next target, the next person who would make the biggest impact – the biggest splash – and send Muggleborns fleeing from the school in droves. Unfortunately, not everyone shared this same view.

Lockhart seemed to think he himself had made the attacks stop. Leo and Harry overheard him telling McGonagall so while the Gryffindors were lining up for Transfiguration. "I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva," he said, tapping his nose knowingly and winking. "I think the Chamber has been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him.

"You know, what the school needs now is a morale-booster. Wash away the memories of the last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the thing..."

He tapped his nose again and strode off. McGonagall gave Leo a stern look as she caught him eyeing Lockhart with mischief twinkling in his eyes. The blonde plastered on an innocent expression before heading to class, where they practiced turning porcupines into pincushions.

Lockhart's idea of a morale-booster became clear at breakfast time on February fourteenth. Leo sat in his seat across from the twins, positioned where he got the best view of Lockhart. He barely managed to keep the excitement from his face as he struggled to keep from bouncing up and down in his seat.

Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, waved for silence. The teachers on either side of him were looking stony-faced. From where he sat, Leo could see a muscle going in McGonagall's cheek. Snape looked as though he was in severe pain just from being in the Great Hall. Leo didn't blame him.

The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Leo was having a hard time keeping it from falling into his porridge and was immensely grateful that he would soon have something else to distract him.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards and the anonymous person who sent me that box of chocolates! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all — and it doesn't end here!"

Unbeknownst to Lockhart, the tips of his hair were turning a sickly green color while a patch of red spread over his nose. Leo exchanged an excited look with the twins as Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart, his hair now taking on a puce color. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion!" His teeth turned bright blue and sprouted pink polka-dots. "Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

He stopped abruptly when he noticed everyone was starting to laugh. He looked down at his hands before shrieking in horror as he noticed they were turning yellow with burnt orange and chartreuse lines zig-zagging across him. He ran from the hall at once amidst gales of laughter from the students and Leo even swore he saw a small smile on Snape's face and received an approving sort of look from McGonagall.

Leo would later explain to Harry and Ron that he and his friends had made modifications to a color-changing potion that only activated when someone said a certain word or phrase. For Lockhart, any time he spoke about himself, some part of him would change a different color. Unfortunately, the potion wore off after twenty-four hours but, by the end of it, Lockhart was practically a neon sign bursting with many vibrant, vomit-inducing colors and patterns. Leo received a surprising number of house points during classes that day.

Lockhart found him on his way to Herbology that day, pulling him aside and yelling at him to fix whatever he had done. Leo merely gave an innocent-sort of look and tried to walk away. Lockhart grabbed him by the arm and, luckily, Sprout appeared, asking where her student was. Lockhart reluctantly released him, and Leo had to keep the triumphant smile from his face as he was led away to class.

Despite how well his day had gone, the universe, as always, seemed to be ever striving to mar Leo's happiness. Harry appeared in front of him later that night as he was doing Charms homework in a blissfully empty common room, informing him that the diary he had had – Tom Riddle's diary – had shown him a memory from when the Chamber had been opened. Hagrid had been the one to do it. Leo was skeptical at this.

"Hagrid might be a fan of dangerous creatures, but he wouldn't bring one into the school that he knew would eat people."

"What about Fluffy? Or Norberta?"

"Fluffy was just overexcited, he wouldn't actually hurt anyone," Leo replied with an errant wave of his hand. "And Norberta was just a baby, we don't know what she'd be like when she grows up."

Try as he might, Harry could not convince Leo that Hagrid had opened the Chamber. The blonde adamantly refused to believe it. Harry told him repeatedly about what Riddle had said and shown him, but Leo refused to believe some random tosser who lived in a fifty-year-old book. Harry eventually threw his hands in the air, tossed the diary at him, and told him to talk to Riddle before walking back up to his dorm room.

Leo stared at the book for a moment before curiosity got the best of him and he opened it, writing:

_Hello. You've reached the magnificent Leo Black. Please leave a message after the beep. Beep._

The words stayed on the page before they sunk into it and disappeared, much to Leo's amazement. Words appeared not written in Leo's handwriting.

**_Hello, Leo Black. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?_**

_Wrestled it from a weredragon, obviously._

**_I am unfamiliar with weredragons, though I can assume that you were being sarcastic._**

_Pretty sharp for a guy who lives in a book. Now, onto business: what's this nonsense you were telling Harry about Hagrid opening the Chamber?_

**_I can show you if you like. I can take you inside my memory of the night when I caught him._**

_I try not to make a habit of jumping inside random books to look at memories that could very well have been falsified._

**_What reason would I have to lie to you, Leo Black? What would I have to gain?_**

Leo paused at this, considering the words as they sank into the page. After a moment, he managed to formulate an adequate response.

_I don't know, and that's the problem. I don't know you, Riddle – quite frankly, I don't think I want to. I don't know who you are or what sort of hidden agendas you might have. To put it simply: I don't trust you._

It took some time for the book to respond.

**_You must be a Slytherin._**

_Proud Gryffindor, actually. Now, answer me, why would you tell Harry that Hagrid was the one who opened the Chamber? There's no way in hell Hagrid is the Heir of Slytherin, and I think you know that. So, tell me, why did you lie to Harry?_

**_I did not lie to Harry Potter. Everything I showed him about that night is the truth._**

_You showed him what you wanted him to see. Who's to say that that's the actual truth?_

The book remained silent. Leo stared at it for several minutes before resuming his Charms work, content in the knowledge that he was right about Hagrid being innocent.

* * *

"Riddle _might_ have got the wrong person," said Hermione. "Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people..."

"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Ron asked dully.

"Well, it held two trolls and a giant three-headed dog during our first Halloween so... a lot," Leo shrugged.

It was the following day after Leo and Harry's individual conversations with Riddle. Leo's warnings about how Riddle was not being entirely truthful had fallen on deaf ears as Harry decided his cousin must be in denial about being wrong. Leo was hurt by this more than he could express and decided he wouldn't talk directly to Harry until he apologized. Or until they were in some sort of life-threatening situation. Whichever came first.

"We always knew Hagrid had been expelled," said Harry miserably. "And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award."

Ron tried a different tack.

"Riddle does sound like Percy — who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?"

"But the monster had killed someone, Ron," said Hermione.

"Doesn't mean it was Hagrid's monster," Leo argued. "From the description we were given, Hagrid's monster was some sort of spider or something – but definitely not a snake. We know Slytherin's monster is some sort of serpent -"

"No, we don't," Harry shot back. "You're just trying to come up with an excuse so you don't have to admit that you're wrong."

It took everything in Leo not to punch Harry in the face at that moment.

Nearly four months passed since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had been Petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. Leo, once more, felt the opposite. Something in his gut was warning him that the Heir was far from finished, and he spent many a sleepless night wandering the castle with his eyes glued to the Map, trying to find the Chamber or perhaps locate whatever monster was moving about the school unseen.

The second years were given something new to think about during their Easter holidays. The time had come to choose their subjects for the third year, something that sent many second years scrambling to relatives as they tried to find out what they wanted to do. Leo had an easy time picking what he wanted.

Care of Magical Creatures, of course, was a no-brainer. He got on well with animals of all shapes and sizes, so it was most definitely a class he wanted to take. He hated maths, so Arithmancy was out of the question. Muggle Studies wasn't even considered given Leo had had a very Muggle upbringing. He immediately dismissed Divination, given that he had no wish to know his future as he felt it would take all the joy out of life. That only left Ancient Runes as his other viable choice, and he signed up for it at once.

Another surprise came to the Gryffindors the evening before their Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. Someone had broken into the second-year boy's dorm and stolen Riddle's diary. Harry immediately blamed Leo, thinking that the boy had stolen it after repeatedly telling Harry he should get rid of it. Leo kept his mouth shut, adamant in his refusal to talk to his cousin until one or both of his conditions were met.

They woke the next day to brilliant sunshine and a light, refreshing breeze.

"Perfect Quidditch conditions!" said Wood enthusiastically at the Gryffindor table, loading the team's plates with scrambled eggs. "Harry, buck up there, you need a decent breakfast."

Harry had spent most of his time glaring at Leo, who simply ate his scrambled eggs and ignored him. Leo did, however, increase his eating speed before taking off to the Quidditch Pitch and getting dressed in the changing rooms. He sat waiting for the team to appear before waving them out as they walked onto the pitch. He was about to lay back and take a nap when he heard a sharp whistle, prompting him to bolt upright and sprint onto the pitch. He spotted McGonagall walking onto the pitch with a large purple megaphone.

"This match has been canceled," McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium. There were boos and shouts. Oliver Wood, looking devastated, landed and ran toward McGonagall without getting off his broomstick.

"But, Professor!" he shouted. "We've got to play — the cup —_Gryffindor_ —"

McGonagall ignored him and continued to shout through her megaphone:

"All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"

Then she lowered the megaphone and beckoned Harry and Leo over to her.

"Potter, Black, I think you'd better come with me..."

He saw Ron detach himself from the complaining crowd; he came running up to them as they set off toward the castle. To Leo's surprise, McGonagall didn't object.

"Yes, perhaps you'd better come, too, Weasley..."

Leo's expression paled when he realized Hermione wasn't with him. _No..._

Some of the students swarming around them were grumbling about the match being canceled; others looked worried. Leo, Harry, and Ron followed McGonagall back into the school and up the marble staircase. Leo's heart raced faster as he realized where they were going, his suspicions slowly being confirmed.

"This will be a bit of a shock," said McGonagall in a surprisingly gentle voice as they approached the infirmary. "There has been another attack...another _double_ attack."

McGonagall pushed the door open and the boys entered...Madam Pomfrey was bending over a sixth-year girl with long, curly hair. And on the bed next to her was —

"_Hermione_!" Ron groaned.

Hermione lay utterly still, her eyes open and glassy.

"They were found near the library," said McGonagall. "I don't suppose any of you can explain this? It was on the floor next to them..."

She was holding up a small, circular mirror.

"Maybe she was keeping an eye out for Medusa?" Leo replied in a weak sort of voice.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Leo!" Harry snapped.

Leo remained quiet, fidgeting with his fingers. He was well-aware that Hermione's situation was far from humorous, but Leo's first inclination was to make jokes. It was a coping mechanism of sorts, one that became more pronounced in the wake of Quirrell's death. It was how he dealt with stressful and/or emotionally charged situations. This definitely counted as both.

"I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower," said McGonagall heavily. "I need to address the students in any case."

* * *

"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

The Gryffindors packed inside the common room listened to McGonagall in silence. She rolled up the parchment from which she had been reading and said in a somewhat choked voice, "I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward."

She climbed somewhat awkwardly out of the portrait hole, and the Gryffindors began talking immediately.

"That's two Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff," Lee Jordan, counting on his fingers. "Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin — why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?" he roared, to nods and scattered applause.

Leo shook his head.

"It's not the Slytherins' fault that they haven't been attacked. The monster only attacks Muggleborns – and cats too, apparently – and most of Slytherin is pure-blood with maybe a few half-bloods thrown in the mix," the blonde informed them all. "We can't blame a whole house just because their Founder was a prejudiced git."

"Come off it, Black," snorted a third-year boy. "Everyone knows that Slytherins are all evil. All of You-Know-Who's followers were in Slytherin, which means -"

"Sirius Black was in Gryffindor," Leo bit out before he could stop himself.

Everyone went silent at his words, and Leo hated himself more than he could ever express as he stormed upstairs to his dorm room and flopped onto his bed. While he knew Sirius was innocent, no one else did. They all thought he was a mass-murdering lunatic, and Leo had used his name to prove a point. He didn't think he'd ever stop feeling guilty.


	14. Chapter 14: Spiderpocalypse

**Chapter 14: Spiderpocalypse**

_Another attack in Bath this time. Heard a rumor that Bellatrix was there. After the gruesome stories I read in the Prophet, I believe it. James said that there's nothing we can do about it and that we should focus on the upcoming match against Ravenclaw. Wasn't sure if he was being intentionally dense or if he was just trying to find ways to manage his own growing anxiety about the war._

* * *

Leo was abruptly awoken early the following morning by Harry and Ron, who dragged him out of bed at nearly two in the morning and told him something that had him wide awake in seconds: Dumbledore and Hagrid were both gone.

The duo had snuck out to Hagrid's the previous night under Harry's Invisibility Cloak in order to confront him about the Chamber. Before they could really learn anything, Fudge, Lucius Malfoy, and Dumbledore had all shown up. Once there, Fudge had sentenced Hagrid to Azkaban – Leo visibly paled at this, having seen first-hand what it could do to a person. Malfoy had then informed them that the Board of Governors had declared Dumbledore unfit and removed him as Headmaster from the school. Leo collapsed into a chair with his hands on his face.

"This is just like last year," he mumbled, an edge of anxiety in his voice. "Quirrell waited until Dumbledore was out of the school to make his move, and I'm sure the Heir will do the same... with Dumbledore gone, we're in serious trouble, you guys."

Harry and Ron exchanged nervous looks at this before telling Leo about Hagrid's final message: Follow the spiders. Leo thought that that was likely to get them in a world of trouble much like their investigations into the Stone that had led to him getting kidnapped and him and Harry almost dying. Ordinarily, Leo would've been all for getting into trouble and diving head-first into danger, but even he was a wee bit apprehensive.

Despite this, he helped the two look throughout the castle for spiders, which were strangely absent. Leo thought that they'd have better luck at nighttime, and took to strolling the halls once more on his own late at night, his eyes glued to the Map. The third night he did this, a sudden thought occurred to him, prompting him to stop dead in his tracks: Riddle's diary.

Seeing the words magically unfurl on the Marauder's Map had brought the diary to mind, which brought the Chamber and everything else to mind as well. A diary that contained the memory of a boy who had been there the last time the Chamber had opened randomly appearing was suspicious enough, but the timing was what really got Leo's attention.

The attacks had stopped during the Christmas holidays, which Leo dismissed out of hand since there wasn't a large enough victim pool for the monster to attack. He would've assumed they'd start up again soon after, but they did not. Harry had had the diary in his possession for some time until the day before the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. The very next day, there was a double attack.

_The diary is the key to this somehow._ Leo determined as he quickly hid from Filch behind a large statue. _Maybe Riddle is really the one who opened the Chamber fifty years ago? Maybe he's instructing whoever has his diary now on how to open it? Maybe he's the one who's really behind the attacks? _

Unfortunately, Leo couldn't tell anyone about this. Without the diary, he had no proof that his story was even remotely true. He couldn't send a letter to Remus or Sirius since Apollo was currently with one of them. And he most certainly couldn't tell Harry, since the git was practically in love with Riddle.

Without any leads, Leo could do nothing but speculate and continue his nighttime searches for the spiders. Luckily, an answer to this particular problem presented itself two weeks after Dumbledore and Hagrid's departure, following the end of Potions class.

"Hurry up, I've got to take you all to Herbology," barked Snape over the class's heads, and off they marched, with Harry, Ron, and Dean bringing up the rear and Leo following immediately behind the grouchy professor, keeping his eyes trained to the ground as Snape saw them out of the castle and off across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses.

The Herbology class was very subdued; there were now two missing from their number, Justin and Hermione.

Sprout set them all to work pruning the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. Harry went to tip an armful of withered stalks onto the compost heap and returned with a Hufflepuff boy by the name of Ernie Macmillan.

"That Draco Malfoy character," said Ernie, breaking off dead twigs, "he seems to be acting very oddly about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir."

"One word against Draco and I'll toss you into the compost heap," Leo threatened, receiving a startled look from the boy in return.

Draco had, indeed, been acting odd since Hagrid and Dumbledore had gotten the boot. Leo had pulled him aside one day and asked what was wrong. Draco shifted uncomfortably before admitting that he didn't think Dumbledore was kicked out entirely legally and that his father may very well have blackmailed and threatened people to get his way.

Leo took a moment to digest this before giving a small shrug and saying that it sounded like something Lucius would do and that it wasn't Draco's fault. Even so, the boy remained feeling incredibly guilty, something Leo could relate to ever since he had used his uncle's name to shut up the crowd of Gryffindors.

"Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked.

"No," said Harry, so firmly that Ernie stared.

A second later, Harry spotted something. Leo followed his gaze with a raised eyebrow.

Several large spiders were scuttling over the ground on the other side of the glass, moving in an unnaturally straight line as though taking the shortest route to a prearranged meeting. Harry hit Ron over the hand with his pruning shears.

"_Ouch!_ What're you —"

Leo pointed out the spiders, following their progress with his eyes screwed up against the sun.

"Oh, yeah," said Ron, trying, and failing, to look pleased. "But we can't follow them now —"

Ernie was listening in curiously.

"Mind ya business," Leo snapped, snipping his clippers together a couple times just inches from the boy's nose.

Ernie jerked his head away abruptly and returned to his Shrivelfig. Feeling triumphant, Leo turned his gaze back to the spiders, following their trajectory to -

"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest..." Harry said aloud.

And Ron looked even unhappier about that. Leo couldn't help but smile in delight. Despite his previous experience in the Forbidden Forest, he much preferred the dense, dark trees to whatever horrors lay beneath the school at this very moment. He could handle the creatures in the forest but didn't think he could handle Slytherin's personal death machine.

At the end of the lesson Sprout escorted the class to their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Leo, Harry, and Ron lagged behind the others so they could talk out of earshot.

"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Harry told Ron. "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the forest with Hagrid, he might be some help."

"Right," said Ron, who was twirling his wand nervously in his fingers. "Er — aren't there — aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?" he added as they took their usual places at the back of Lockhart's classroom.

"No, they only come out during full moons," Leo shook his head before a thought occurred to him. "Maybe we'll run into Knight again – Hagrid says he's supposed to be the guardian of the forest and he did save me and Harry last year. Maybe he can show us where the spiders are heading?"

Harry looked somewhat cheered at this thought, recalling Hagrid's words about how not many creatures in the forest tangled with the black wolf. Ron, however, seemed confused. Harry explained everything he could remember about Knight as Lockhart bounded into the room and the class stared at him. Every other teacher in the place was looking grimmer than usual, but Lockhart appeared nothing short of buoyant.

"Come now," he cried, beaming around him. "Why all these long faces?"

"Chudley Cannons are bottom of the league again – what the bloody hell do you think?" Leo rolled his eyes sarcastically, having had more than enough of Lockhart by this point in the year.

A few scattered chuckles swept over the class. Having Lockhart and Leo in the same room was probably the most joy they were able to find these days. It was certainly the most fun Leo had had all year. Making fun of Lockhart was a great distraction for him and kept him from remembering all the horrible stuff about Quirrell.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Black," Lockhart waggled his finger at the boy before he began speaking slowly, as though they were all a bit dim. "Don't you people realize, the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away —"

"Says who?" yelled Dean.

"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty," said Lockhart, in the tone of someone explaining that one and one made two.

"Oh, yes he would," said Ron, even more loudly than Dean.

"Fudge is a power-hungry moron who cracked under public scrutiny," Leo snorted. "He'd've arrested you too if he thought it would boost his poll numbers."

"Ten more points from Gryffindor, Mr. Black. And I flatter myself -"

"Yeah, we know that," Leo grumbled.

"- I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," said Lockhart in a self-satisfied tone, ignoring Leo's comment.

But Lockhart's disgusting cheeriness, his hints that he had always thought Hagrid was no good, his confidence that the whole business was now at an end, irritated Harry so much that he yearned to throw _Gadding with Ghouls_ right in Lockhart's stupid face. When he mentioned this in an undertone to Leo and Ron, the blonde took that opportunity to do as his cousin had suggested. He lost fifty points from Gryffindor, but it was worth seeing Lockhart's bloody nose.

* * *

The Gryffindor common room was always very crowded these days, because from six o'clock onward the Gryffindors had nowhere else to go. They also had plenty to talk about, with the result that the common room often didn't empty until past midnight.

Harry went to get the Invisibility Cloak out of his trunk right after dinner and spent the evening sitting on it, waiting for the room to clear. Fred and George challenged Leo, Harry, and Ron to a few games of Exploding Snap, and Ginny sat watching them, very subdued in Hermione's usual chair. Harry and Ron kept losing on purpose, trying to finish the games quickly, but Leo couldn't bring himself to purposefully lose anything – unless it involved one of Lockhart's tests or homework assignments (which he never once did) -, and so, it was well past midnight when Fred, George, and Ginny finally went to bed.

The three waited for the distant sounds of two dormitory doors closing before seizing the cloak, throwing it over themselves, and climbing through the portrait hole.

It was a difficult journey through the castle, dodging all the teachers. Leo had been tempted to bring the Map, but remembered his promise to Fred and George and decided to keep it a secret. Thankfully, he knew many secret passages around the castle and got them around the teachers quickly and efficiently. At last, they reached the entrance hall, slid back the lock on the oak front doors, squeezed between them, trying to stop any creaking, and stepped out into the moonlit grounds.

"'Course," said Ron abruptly as they strode across the black grass, "we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going there at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but..."

"Don't crush my dreams, Ronald," Leo grumbled.

They reached Hagrid's house, sad and sorry-looking with its blank windows. When Harry pushed the door open, Fang went mad with joy at the sight of them. Worried he might wake everyone at the castle with his deep, booming barks, they hastily fed him treacle fudge from a tin on the mantelpiece, which glued his teeth together.

Harry left the Invisibility Cloak on Hagrid's table. There would be no need for it in the pitch-dark forest.

"C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk," said Harry, patting his leg, and Fang bounded happily out of the house behind them, dashed to the edge of the forest, and lifted his leg against a large sycamore tree.

Harry took out his wand, murmured, "_Lumos_!" and a tiny light appeared at the end of it, illuminating -

"Knight!" Leo crowed gleefully, bounding toward the black figure lying in the shadow of the trees.

Knight gave a flick of his ear and a small wag of his tail as Leo and his friends approached. He gave a small incline of his head, almost as though nodding in greeting to the people who approached his domain. After a look back at the other two boys, who nodded encouragingly, Leo kneeled down slightly until he was looking Knight in the eyes, which were glowing silver in the moonlight.

"Listen, Knight," Leo began, encouraged when the wolf tilted his head to the side and eyed him more intently. "We have friends – Hagrid, among many others – who are in trouble. In order to help them, we need to follow the spiders to wherever they may lead. Can you take us to where they're going?"

Knight folded an ear back, giving a look that indicated that he thought that was a very bad idea. Nonetheless, he rose to his paws ("Bloody hell, you didn't mention he was so big!" Ron yelled in surprise.) and turned away, waving his tail for them to follow him before trotting into the forest.

Leo lit his wand and went after him, followed by Ron with Harry taking up the rear and Fang gallivanting all about them. About ten minutes in, Fang tried to bound ahead of Knight, who tackled him to the ground and pinned him there, snarling lightly. Harry and Ron tried to run forward, wands pointed at the wolf when Leo held out an arm to stop them. Fang whimpered, curling his tail between his legs before Knight released him and continued onward. Fang followed behind in a more subdued manner.

"It's a dominance display of sorts," Leo informed the other two as they followed their canine companions. "Knight's an Alpha, so he kind of leads us. Fang's a Beta at best, so him trying to run ahead was a challenge to Knight's leadership – not to mention the fact that Fang's running around could've attracted all sorts of unsavory predators. Knight didn't have much choice but to put him in his place."

"Bloody hell," Ron rose an eyebrow. "You sound like Hermione."

Leo merely gave a small shrug, raising his wand a bit higher to allow for a bit more light. They walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, their robes snagging on low-slung branches and brambles. After a while, they noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downward, though the trees were as thick as ever.

Then Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, making the humans jump out of their skins whilst Knight rounded on him with an angry snap of his jaws.

"What?" said Ron loudly, looking around into the pitch-dark, and gripping Harry's elbow very hard.

"There's something moving over there," Harry breathed. "Listen...sounds like something big..."

They listened. Some distance to their right, the something big was snapping branches as it carved a path through the trees. Knight started to circle the group, ears erect and fur bristling as he snarled at whatever was coming for them.

"Oh, no," said Ron. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh —"

"Shut up," said Harry frantically. "It'll hear you."

"Hear me?" said Ron in an unnaturally high voice. "It's already heard Fang!"

There was a strange rumbling noise and then silence. Knight suddenly gave a low bark before sitting down, his fur lying flat. Leo lowered his wand slightly, assured that they were no longer in any sort of danger. He was proven correct when, mere seconds later, there came a sudden blaze of light, so bright in the darkness that all three of them flung up their hands to shield their eyes. Fang yelped and tried to run, but got lodged in a tangle of thorns and yelped even louder. Leo had to cast _Diffindo_ to get him out.

"Harry!" Ron shouted, his voice breaking with relief. "Leo, it's our car!"

"Holy shit, really?" Leo asked incredulously, raising his wand to get a better look.

Mr. Weasley's car was standing, empty, in the middle of a circle of thick trees under a roof of dense branches, its headlights ablaze. As Ron walked, open-mouthed, toward it, it moved slowly toward him, exactly like a large, turquoise dog greeting its owner.

"It's been here all the time!" said Ron delightedly, walking around the car. "Look at it. The forest's turned it wild..."

The sides of the car were scratched and smeared with mud. Apparently, it had taken to trundling around the forest on its own. Fang didn't seem at all keen on it; he kept close to Knight, who growled and snapped at him for getting too close. The dog whimpered before crawling over to Leo, who gave him an absent pat on the head.

"And we thought it was going to attack us!" said Ron, leaning against the car and patting it. "I wondered where it had gone!"

Knight suddenly went rigid before launching forward and pushing them away from the car. Mere seconds later, a giant spider landed where the trio and Fang had been standing. Knight gave a low bark before nudging them to their feet and urging them forward, not that they needed much incentive. The wolf led them through the trees at a brisk pace, now and again running around behind them to snap at the heels of whoever was lagging behind.

Leo wasn't sure quite how long or how far they had been running before Knight led them into a hollow surrounded by cobwebs and spiders on all sides. A misty, domed web sat in the center of the hollow, which Knight walked toward confidently. Leo had the sudden urge to light the dome on fire.

Knight gave a few barks.

And from the middle of the misty, domed web, a spider the size of a small elephant emerged, very slowly. There was grey in the black of his body and legs, and each of the eyes on his ugly, pincered head was milky white. He was blind. Leo didn't find much relief in this fact.

"What is it?" he said, clicking his pincers rapidly.

Knight barked again.

"Is it Hagrid?" said the spider, moving closer, his eight milky eyes wandering vaguely.

Knight barked, giving a flick of his ear.

"Kill them," clicked the spider fretfully. "I was sleeping..."

Knight snarled lowly at this, his fur bristling as he glared around the hollow, almost daring anyone to come closer. They did not.

"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry shouted.

"Besties, really," Leo added.

Click, click, click went the pincers of the spiders all around the hollow.

The old one paused.

"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," he said slowly.

"Hagrid's in trouble," said Harry, breathing very fast. "That's why we've come."

"In trouble?" said the aged spider, and Leo thought he heard concern beneath the clicking pincers. "But why has he sent you?"

"He didn't, we came of our own accord, hoping to save him and some other friends of ours," Leo informed the old spider honestly.

"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a — a — something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban," Harry explained.

The blind spider clicked his pincers furiously, and all around the hollow the sound was echoed by the crowd of spiders. Leo was able to make out that they were worried – terrified – by whatever it was that lay in the castle. The blonde wondered what exactly was so huge and monstrous that it terrified a spider that was almost the size of his house.

"But that was years ago," said the blind spider fretfully. "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that I was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."

Leo spared a moment to give Harry an 'I told you so' look.

"And you...you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" said Harry, and Leo immediately knew this was the wrong question to ask.

"_I_!" said the old spider, clicking angrily. "I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness..."

"Yeah, that sounds like the sort of thing Hagrid would do," Leo remarked, stepping forward a pace. "I'm glad he helped you find a family and a home after you were so wrongly accused, Mr...?

"Aragog," the spider clicked, sounding mildly amused now. "You are...different from your companions. Your words are more clear. Who are you?"

"Er, Leo Black," Leo replied, shaking off his surprise.

Harry decided to get the conversation back on track.

"So you never — never attacked anyone?"

"Never," croaked the old spider. "It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet..."

"But then...Do you know what did kill that girl?" said Harry. "Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again —"

His words were drowned by a loud outbreak of clicking and the rustling of many long legs shifting angrily; large black shapes shifted all around them.

"The thing that lives in the castle," said Aragog, "is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go when I sensed the beast moving about the school."

"Is it a snake?" Leo asked in a dry tone.

More loud clicking, more rustling; the spiders seemed to be closing in.

"We do not speak of it!" said Aragog fiercely. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times."

"Right, right, we get it," Leo replied, holding his hands up in surrender. "The creature is like your Voldemort, right? It's understandable that you wouldn't want to talk about it – but could you tell us how to stop it? How to kill it?"

"This creature cannot be killed – not by hands such as yours, Leo Black," Aragog informed him. "And it cannot be stopped. It cannot be reasoned with."

Leo was disappointed and irritated at this. He was going to press the subject, but Aragog seemed to be tired of talking. He was backing slowly into his domed web, but his fellow spiders continued to inch slowly toward Leo, Harry, and Ron. Knight began to circle them again, snarling aggressively.

"We'll just go, then," Harry called desperately to Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind him.

"Go?" said Aragog slowly. "I think not..."

"But — but —"

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friends of Hagrid."

Leo looked around wildly at the spiders starting to surround them. Thinking quickly, he pointed his wand to the sky and shouted, "_Incindeo Tria_!"

Blue flames erupted from his wand and surrounded the small group in a small dome. The spiders gave angry and fearful clicks as they scuttered back away from the heat and the light. After a minute, Leo's face began to sweat, he was unused to holding _Incindeo Tria_ like this and for such a long amount of time. He started panting heavily, about to fall to the ground when a loud, long note sounded, and a blaze of light flamed through the hollow.

Leo released the spell to see that it was Mr. Weasley's car thundering down the slope, headlights glaring, its horn screeching, knocking spiders aside; several were thrown onto their backs, their endless legs waving in the air. The car screeched to a halt in front of Leo, Harry, and Ron and the doors flew open.

"Get Fang!" Harry yelled, grabbing Leo and pushing him into the backseat while he climbed in the front.

Several spiders tried to approach them, only to be repelled by Knight, who was snarling and barking at them angrily. One tried to move past him when it suddenly shrieked in anger and pain as the large wolf grabbed hold of its leg.

This gave Ron time to seize the boar-hound around the middle and throw him, yelping, into the back of the car — the doors slammed shut — Ron didn't touch the accelerator but the car didn't need him; the engine roared and they were off, hitting more spiders. They sped up the slope, out of the hollow, and they were soon crashing through the forest, branches whipping the windows as Knight raced forward ahead of them, leading them between large gaps in the trees.

Harry looked sideways at Ron. His mouth was still open in the silent scream, but his eyes weren't popping anymore.

"Are you okay?"

Ron stared straight ahead, unable to speak. Harry instead turned his head around to look at Leo, who appeared to be slowly recovering from the endeavor.

"You alright?"

Leo merely panted and gave a weak thumbs up.

They smashed their way through the undergrowth, Fang howling loudly in the back seat until Leo got tired and used the Silencing Charm on him in order to help ease his slowly growing headache. After ten quiet, rocky minutes, the trees thinned, and Leo could again see patches of sky.

The car stopped so suddenly that they were nearly thrown into the windshield. They had reached the edge of the forest. Fang flung himself at the window in his anxiety to get out, and when Harry opened the door, he shot off through the trees to Hagrid's house, tail between his legs. Harry got out too and proceeded to help Leo out and, after a minute or so, Ron seemed to regain the feeling in his limbs and followed, still stiff-necked and staring. Harry gave the car a grateful pat as it reversed back into the forest and disappeared from view.

Knight gave the trio a nod before running back into the forest after the car. Harry ran back inside to retrieve his cloak while Ron threw up in Hagrid's pumpkin patch. Leo didn't think the man would be pleased upon his return. It wasn't until Harry returned that Ron stopped long enough to speak.

"Follow the spiders," said Ron weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."

"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," said Harry.

"Hagrid wasn't there to ensure that wouldn't happen," Leo replied bitterly as he sank onto the steps of Hagrid's hut. "Aragog had no need to uphold the unspoken agreement he had with Hagrid if Hagrid wasn't around."

"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" said Ron, thumping the wall of the cabin. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban!" He was shivering uncontrollably now. "What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"

"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry, hauling Leo to his feet and throwing the cloak over him and Ron, prodding the latter in the arm to make him walk. "He was innocent."

Leo looked at him, raising an eyebrow as Harry mumbled out an apology. The blonde turned forward, somewhat satisfied by this.


	15. Chapter 15: Once More Unto the Breach

**Chapter 15: Once More Unto the Breach**

_We won the Cup. I caught the Snitch practically under Davies' nose. James was laughing about it the whole time, miming his dumbfounded expression. Even Remy managed to smile at his antics, despite how close we are to that time of the month. Never imagined I'd be part of the Marauders, it's a nice feeling._

* * *

Leo woke up late the following day, almost missing breakfast as he slowly crawled his way out of bed before showering and dressing. He hugged the wall as he slowly made his way down the stairs to the Great Hall, flopping down in a seat next to Harry and plopping his head on the table with a small groan, too tired to eat. Harry patted his arm sympathetically before informing him of what he had told Ron last night: Moaning Myrtle was the girl who died in the bathroom.

Leo squinted at him, raising an eyebrow as though to say 'well, obviously'. He'd put together that little puzzle not long after he figured out that the Chamber opened fifty years ago. When he told Harry this, his cousin merely grumbled for him to go back to sleep. He would've been more than happy to do so, but they had Transfiguration that morning as their first class. If it had been DADA or History of Magic, Leo would've bunked off in an instant.

Ten minutes into the class, McGonagall told them that their exams would start on the first of June, one week from today.

"_Exams_?" howled Seamus Finnigan. "We're still getting exams?"

There was a loud bang behind them as Neville Longbottom's wand slipped, vanishing one of the legs on his desk. McGonagall restored it with a wave of her own wand, and turned, frowning, to Seamus.

"The whole point of keeping the school open at this time is for you to receive your education," she said sternly. "The exams will, therefore, take place as usual, and I trust you are all studying hard."

She gave Leo, who was trying hard to keep his eyes open, a particularly stern look at this. He gave a wide grin in response, having never studied a day in his life and not planning on studying now. There was a great deal of mutinous muttering around the room, which made McGonagall scowl even more darkly.

"Professor Dumbledore's instructions were to keep the school running as normally as possible," she said. "And that, I need hardly point out, means finding out how much you have learned this year."

Leo took that moment to turn his rabbits into a pair of fluffy slippers and go to sleep for the rest of the class. McGonagall assigned him detention for the next day.

Three days before their first exam, McGonagall made another announcement at breakfast.

"I have good news," she said, and the Great Hall, instead of falling silent, erupted.

"Dumbledore's coming back!" several people yelled joyfully.

"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" squealed a girl at the Ravenclaw table.

"Quidditch matches are back on!" roared Wood excitedly.

"You're firing Lockhart!" Leo called out.

When the laughter had subsided, McGonagall said, "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit."

There was an explosion of cheering. Leo looked over at the Slytherin table and wasn't at all surprised to see that Zabini hadn't joined in. _Git._ Ron, however, was looking happier than he'd looked in days.

"It won't matter that we never asked Myrtle, then!" he said to Harry. "Hermione'll probably have all the answers when they wake her up! Mind you, she'll go crazy when she finds out we've got exams in three days' time. She hasn't studied. It might be kinder to leave her where she is till they're over."

"Studying is overrated," Leo snorted, stabbing a potato.

Just then, Ginny Weasley came over and sat down next to Ron. She looked tense and nervous, and Leo noticed that her hands were twisting in her lap.

"What's up?" said Ron, helping himself to more porridge.

Ginny didn't say anything but glanced up and down the Gryffindor table with a scared look on her face that reminded Leo of someone who had something important to say but couldn't quite get it out. His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Spit it out," said Ron, watching her.

"I've got to tell you something," Ginny mumbled, carefully not looking at Harry.

"Is it about the Chamber?" Leo questioned, putting a potato in his mouth and chewing it as though this was a perfectly normal conversation to be having. "Did you see something?"

Ginny drew a deep breath and, at that precise moment, Percy Weasley appeared, looking tired and wan.

"If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty."

Ginny jumped up as though her chair had just been electrified, gave Percy a fleeting, frightened look, and scampered away. Percy sat down and grabbed a mug from the center of the table.

"Percy!" said Ron angrily. "She was just about to tell us something important!"

Halfway through a gulp of tea, Percy choked.

"What sort of thing?" he said, coughing.

"Leo just asked her if she'd seen anything odd, and she started to say..."

"Oh — that — that's nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets," said Percy at once.

"How do you know?" said Ron, his eyebrows raised.

"Well, er, if you must know, Ginny, er, walked in on me the other day when I was — well, never mind — the point is, she spotted me doing something and I, um, I asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must say, I did think she'd keep her word. It's nothing, really, I'd just rather—"

"Nobody cares about you snogging your girlfriend, Perce," Leo rolled his eyes, mildly interested when Percy choked on his drink again. "We've got more interesting things to talk about, like Goblin Rebellions."

Percy did not look amused at this. Instead, he stammered a bit before his face turned red and he moved further down the table away from them. Leo merely grinned and continued eating his potatoes.

Midmorning, they were being led to History of Magic by Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart, who had so often assured them that all danger had passed, only to be proved wrong right away, was now wholeheartedly convinced that it was hardly worth the trouble to see them safely down the corridors. His hair wasn't as sleek as usual; it seemed he had been up most of the night, patrolling the fourth floor. Leo felt he had something to do with his appearance as well.

After spotting Lockhart alone on the Map, Leo had taken Harry's cloak and rushed down to the fourth floor. He had various sets of armor rattle and made echoing whispers bounce around the hall. Once Lockhart was well and truly paranoid, he ran in place, making it sound as though someone was chasing after him. Lockhart screamed like a girl and ran down the corridor, only to trip when Leo hit him with a Trip Jinx. Leo smiled fondly at the memory.

"Mark my words," he said, ushering them around a corner. "The first words out of those poor Petrified people's mouths will be '_It was Hagrid_.' Frankly, I'm astounded Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary."

"I agree, sir," said Harry, slapping a hand over Leo's mouth as Ron dropped his books in surprise.

"Thank you, Harry," said Lockhart graciously while they waited for a long line of Hufflepuffs to pass. "I mean, we teachers have quite enough to be getting on with, without walking students to classes and standing guard all night..."

"That's right," said Ron. "Why don't you leave us here, sir, we've only got one more corridor to go —"

"You know, Weasley, I think I will," said Lockhart. "I really should go and prepare for my next class —"

And he hurried off.

"Prepare what?" Leo snorted when Harry lowered his hand. "He doesn't even teach anything!"

They let the rest of the Gryffindors draw ahead of them, then darted down a side passage and hurried off toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. But just as Harry and Ron were congratulating each other on their brilliant scheme -

"Black! Potter! Weasley! What are you doing?"

It was McGonagall, and her mouth was the thinnest of thin lines.

"We were heading off to the hospital wing," Leo said, thinking quickly. "We wanted to see -"

"Hermione," Harry finished, catching on. "We haven't seen her for ages, Professor, and we thought we'd sneak into the hospital wing, you know, and tell her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to worry —"

"And make sure she's prepared for the exams in a few days. She'll flip if we don't forewarn her," Leo added when Harry seemed to be running out of things to say.

McGonagall was still staring at him, and for a moment, Leo thought she was going to explode, but when she spoke, it was in a strangely croaky voice.

"Of course," she said, and Leo, amazed, saw a tear glistening in her beady eye. "Of course, I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been...I quite understand. Yes, you three, of course you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission."

The three walked away, hardly daring to believe that they'd avoided detention. Leo was a bit disappointed at this, he was shooting for a record. As they turned the corner, they distinctly heard McGonagall blow her nose.

"That," said Ron fervently, "was the best story you've ever come up with."

"Clearly, you've never seen me escape detention with the twins," Leo snorted. "That's true art right there."

They had no choice now but to go to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey that they had McGonagall's permission to visit Hermione.

Madam Pomfrey let them in, but reluctantly.

"There's just no point talking to a Petrified person," she said, and they had to admit she had a point when they'd taken their seats next to Hermione. It was plain that Hermione didn't have the faintest inkling that she had visitors and that they might just as well tell her bedside cabinet not to worry for all the good it would do.

"Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?" said Ron, looking sadly at Hermione's rigid face. "Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one'll ever know..."

"Well, she had a mirror, so it's likely she saw _something_," Leo replied, thoughtfully tapping his chin.

At that moment, Harry spotted a crumpled wad of paper in Hermione's hand and pointed it out to the other two. He tried to pull it out, almost tearing it in the process when Leo shooed him away and flicked his wrist, taking his wand out. He muttered a quick "_Reducio_" before taking the shrunken paper, re-enlarging it, and handing it off to Harry.

It was a page torn from a very old library book. Harry smoothed it out eagerly and, knowing that Leo wouldn't lean over to read it alongside them, read aloud:

"_Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."_

Leo stared at the paper before turning to the other two and saying, "_I bloody told you so._"

The two groaned, knowing that Leo would never let this go. And they were correct. Over the years, Leo would constantly bring up the year where he bloody called everything whilst everyone else ran about like chickens with their heads cut off.

"So, the monster in the Chamber's a basilisk — a giant serpent! That's why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand Parseltongue..." Harry began excitedly, ignoring Leo as he continuously hummed 'I told you so'. "The basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died — because no one looked it straight in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin...Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again...and Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first! And that girl pulled out her mirror — and —"

Ron's jaw had dropped.

"And Mrs. Norris?" he whispered eagerly.

"Water, water everywhere," Leo sang, recalling the wet floor. "Myrtle's bathroom was flooded -"

He suddenly gasped, clapping his hands to his face.

"Because the snake came out for the first time in fifty years – the Chamber's beneath the girl's bathroom!"

They sat there, excitement coursing through them, hardly able to believe it.

"This means," said Harry, "I can't be the only Parselmouth in the school. The Heir of Slytherin's one, too. That's how he's been controlling the basilisk."

"What're we going to do?" said Ron, whose eyes were flashing. "Should we go straight to McGonagall?"

"Let's go to the staff room," said Harry, jumping up. "She'll be there in ten minutes. It's nearly break."

They ran downstairs. Not wanting to be discovered hanging around in another corridor, they went straight into the deserted staff room. It was a large, paneled room full of dark, wooden chairs. Leo, Harry, and Ron paced around it, too excited to sit down.

But the bell to signal break never came.

Instead, echoing through the corridors came McGonagall's voice, magically magnified.

"All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."

"Bollocks, that's never a good sign," Leo stated before grabbing the two and dragging them into a nearby wardrobe.

From between the musty folds of the cloaks, they watched the teachers filtering into the room. Some of them were looking puzzled, others downright scared. Then McGonagall arrived.

"It has happened," she told the silent staff room. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."

Leo felt bad that he felt relief at not being the one who was kidnapped this time. Flitwick let out a squeal. Sprout clapped her hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the back of a chair very hard and said, "How can you be sure?"

"The Heir of Slytherin," said McGonagall, who was very white, "left another message. Right underneath the first one. '_Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'_"

_That sounds very... theatrical._ Leo's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. _Almost like he's daring someone to go find her._

"Who is it?" said Madam Hooch, who had sunk, weak-kneed, into a chair. "Which student?"

"Ginny Weasley," said McGonagall.

Leo felt Ron slide silently down onto the wardrobe floor beside him.

"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," said McGonagall. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said..."

The staff room door banged open again. Leo was grateful that the sound was so loud, otherwise the teachers would've heard his very audible groan. It was Lockhart, and he was beaming.

"So sorry — dozed off — what have I missed?"

_Today or your entire life? Either way, the answer is everything, you twit._

He didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were looking at him with something remarkably like hatred. Snape stepped forward. Leo leaned forward slightly, his breath bated.

"Just the man," he said. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."

Lockhart blanched.

"That's right, Gilderoy," chipped in Sprout. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"

_My arse._

"I — well, I —" sputtered Lockhart.

"Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?" piped up Flitwick.

_If he did, he wouldn't still be at the school._

"D-did I? I don't recall —"

"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested," said Snape. "Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled and that you should have been given free rein from the first?"

Lockhart stared around at his stony-faced colleagues. Leo felt like Christmas and his birthday fell into his lap on the same day.

"I — I really never — you may have misunderstood —"

"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," said McGonagall. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last."

_I really hope the snake eats him. Go two for two on the DADA professors._

Lockhart gazed desperately around him, but nobody came to the rescue.

"V-very well," he said. "I'll — I'll be in my office, getting — getting ready."

And he left the room.

"Right," said McGonagall, whose nostrils were flared, "that's got him out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories."

The teachers rose and left, one by one. On the way out, Flitwick remarked that they should have done that sooner and that he now understood Leo's constant desire to make snide comments toward Lockhart. Leo's grin widened when there were murmurs of agreement and even Snape nodded his head slightly.

* * *

It was probably the best and worst day of Leo's entire life. Seeing Lockhart getting decimated by the teachers was what he had wanted all year. Having Ginny get abducted was not. Leo, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George sat together in a corner of the Gryffindor common room, unable to say anything to each other. Percy wasn't there. He had gone to send an owl to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then shut himself up in his dormitory.

No afternoon ever lasted as long as that one, nor had Gryffindor Tower ever been so crowded, yet so quiet. Near sunset, Fred and George went up to bed, unable to sit there any longer. Leo rose to his feet at this.

"Where're you going?" Harry inquired.

"To rescue Ginny, of course," Leo replied, flicking his wand out of his holster. "I know what it's like to be kidnapped by a lunatic and desperately waiting for someone to come save you. We can't just leave her there."

"D'you know what?" said Ron. "You're right. I think we should go and see Lockhart. Tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him where we think it is, and tell him it's a basilisk in there."

Leo thought this was a terrible idea but decided to go along with it. At the very least, he could use the man as snake bait. The Gryffindors around them were so miserable, and felt so sorry for the Weasleys, that nobody tried to stop them as they got up, crossed the room, and left through the portrait hole.

Darkness was falling as they walked down to Lockhart's office. There seemed to be a lot of activity going on inside it. They could hear scraping, thumps, and hurried footsteps. With a raised eyebrow, Leo hefted up his foot before kicking the door open, startling Lockhart as he stood bent over a trunk. _Figures he'd try to run._

His office had been almost completely stripped. Two large trunks stood open on the floor. Robes, jade-green, lilac, midnight blue, had been hastily folded into one of them; books were jumbled untidily into the other. The photographs that had covered the walls were now crammed into boxes on the desk.

"Black, Potter, Weasley, I-"

"Are you going somewhere?" said Harry.

"Er, well, yes," said Lockhart, ripping a life-size poster of himself from the back of the door as he spoke and starting to roll it up. "Urgent call — unavoidable — got to go —"

"Bollocks," Leo snorted. "You're scarpering like the coward you are."

"You're running away?" said Harry disbelievingly. "After all that stuff you did in your books —"

"Books can be misleading," said Lockhart delicately.

"You wrote them!" Harry shouted.

"My dear boy," said Lockhart, straightening up and frowning at Harry. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a hairy chin. I mean, come on —"

"So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" said Harry incredulously.

"Give the boy a gold star," Leo remarked dryly, twirling his wand in his hand.

"Harry, Harry," said Lockhart, shaking his head impatiently, "it's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work, Harry. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."

"You mean be prepared to be a complete and utter git with nothing substantial to offer the world other than utter mediocrity?" Leo corrected him. "It would be one thing if people actually learned things from the rubbish you're selling, but all your books will do is get people excited for their own adventures and get them killed after trying the nonsense you wrote."

Lockhart banged the lids of his trunks shut and locked them. He then pulled out his wand and turned to them.

"I should've done this when I first had the chance, Black," Lockhart stated, his face an angry shade of red.

Lockhart had barely raised his wand, when Harry and Leo both bellowed, "_Expelliarmus!_"

Lockhart was blasted backward, falling over his trunk; his wand flew high into the air; Ron caught it, and flung it out of the open window. Leo strode toward the man, his face a mask of rage as he pointed his wand at Lockhart's face.

"Try something else, I dare you."

"What d'you want me to do?" said Lockhart weakly. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck," said Harry, walking over and helping Leo force Lockhart to his feet at wandpoint. "We think we know where it is. And what's inside it. Let's go."

They marched Lockhart out of his office and down the nearest stairs, along the dark corridor where the messages shone on the wall, to the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

They sent Lockhart in first. Leo was pleased to see that he was shaking.

Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the end toilet.

"Oh, it's you," she said when she saw Harry. "What do you want this time?"

"To ask you how you died," said Harry.

Myrtle's whole aspect changed at once. She looked as though she had never been asked such a flattering question. Leo couldn't help but question her sanity at this moment.

"Ooooh, it was dreadful," she said with relish. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then —" Myrtle swelled importantly, her face shining. "I died."

"How?" said Harry.

"No idea," said Myrtle in hushed tones. "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away..." She looked dreamily at Harry. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."

Leo snorted, imagining that he'd most likely do the same to Lockhart or Zabini if the opportunity presented itself.

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" said Harry.

"Somewhere there," said Myrtle, pointing vaguely toward the sink in front of her toilet.

Harry and Ron hurried over to it. Lockhart was standing well back, a look of utter terror on his face as Leo had lowered his wand somewhat to rest at a place no man wanted a wand pointed at.

It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below. Harry was inspecting one of the taps closely.

"That tap's never worked," said Myrtle brightly as he tried to turn it.

"Harry," said Ron. "Say something. Something in Parseltongue."

"But —" Harry frowned.

"Open up," he said.

He looked at Leo – who was sending small puffs of fire from his wand and watching gleefully as Lockhart flinched each time – and Ron, who shook his head.

"English," he said.

Harry made a strangled hissing noise. At once, the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into. Leo drug such a man closer.

"I'm going down," Harry said determinedly.

"Me too," Leo said before prodding Lockhart's back with his wand. "Cowards first."

"Boys," he said, his voice feeble. "Boys, what good will it do?"

"It'll be hilarious," Leo replied before unceremoniously pushing him down with his foot.

Not hearing any screams of terror, Leo jumped down after him. It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide. He could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as theirs, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward, and he knew that he was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons. Behind him he could hear Harry, thudding slightly at the curves.

And then, just as he had begun to worry about what would happen when he hit the ground, the pipe leveled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in. Lockhart was getting to his feet a little ways away, covered in slime and white as a ghost. Leo stood aside as Harry and then Ron each came whizzing out of the pipe, too.

"We must be miles under the school," said Harry, his voice echoing in the black tunnel.

"Under the lake, probably," said Ron, squinting around at the dark, slimy walls.

"Sure hope you can swim," Leo grinned at Lockhart. "_Lumos._"

The tip of his wand lit up and Harry followed his lead, lighting his own wand. Leo pushed Lockhart to the front, sure the man would alert them if a giant snake came slithering along to eat them all. But the tunnel was quiet as the grave, and the first unexpected sound they heard was a loud _crunch_ as Ron stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull. Leo glanced down briefly to look at the floor and saw that it was littered with small animal bones. They rounded a dark bend in the tunnel.

"Harry — Leo - there's something up there —" said Ron hoarsely, grabbing Harry's shoulder.

They froze, watching. Leo could just see the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving. Leo walked forward cautiously, growing more confident when he didn't hear any loud breathing. He lifted his wand a bit higher. The light slid over a gigantic snakeskin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least. Harry walked up beside him to examine it curiously.

"Blimey," said Ron weakly.

There was a sudden movement behind them. Lockhart's knees had given way.

"Get up," said Ron sharply, pointing his wand at Lockhart.

Lockhart got to his feet — then he dived at Ron, knocking him to the ground.

Harry jumped forward, but Leo grabbed him by the back of his robes and pulled his cousin behind him. He leveled his wand at Lockhart, who was straightening up, panting, Ron's wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face.

"The adventure ends here, boys!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body — say good-bye to your memories!"

He raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, "_Obliv-_"

"_Depulso Maxima_!" Leo shouted, pointing his wand at the man.

Lockhart flew backward as though hit by a small bomb. Leo grabbed Harry dragged him away quickly, slipping over the coils of snakeskin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling that were thundering to the floor. The next moment, they were standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.

"Ron!" Harry shouted. "Are you okay? Ron!"

"I'm here!" came Ron's muffled voice from behind the rockfall. "I'm okay — this git's not, though — he got blasted by the wand —"

"Is he still breathing?" Leo questioned.

There was silence for a moment.

"Yeah, he's just out cold," Ron finally replied.

Leo gave a small sigh, relieved by this. Despite how much he hated Lockhart, Leo didn't really feel the need to _personally_ go two for two on his Defense teachers.

"What now?" Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. "I can't get through — it'll take ages..."

Leo looked up at the tunnel ceiling. Huge cracks had appeared in it. He didn't think trying to take the rocks apart by magic would be a very good idea – the tunnel seemed likely to cave-in at any moment. They didn't have time to take it apart either. He exchanged a look with Harry, who seemed to understand.

"Wait there," he called to Ron. "Wait with Lockhart. We'll go on...If we're not back in an hour..."

There was a very pregnant pause, "I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Ron, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can — can get back through. And —"

"We'll be back soon," Leo informed him, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him along the tunnel.

Soon the distant noise of Ron straining to shift the rocks was gone. The tunnel turned and turned again. Leo was looking about, scrutinizing every dark shadow and turning his head at every sound. At last, as they crept around yet another bend, they saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

"This one's all you, cousin," Leo informed him, stepping to the side to give Harry a better view of the snakes.

Harry gave a low, faint hiss. The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Leo walked in, Harry shaking behind him as he followed.


	16. Chapter 16: Riddle Me This

**Chapter 16: Riddle Me This**

_There were several Dementor attacks in London this morning – several Muggles and two wizards were Kissed. The war is getting worse now that Voldemort has gained those dark allies. I have to learn how to protect my brothers from them._

* * *

They were standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. Leo dimmed the light at the end of his wand before striding forward, Harry close behind.

Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following him. More than once, he thought he saw one stir before shaking his head, trying to calm his paranoia.

Then, as they drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall. Leo felt it was a bit over the top and ostentatious.

They had to crane their necks to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. And between the feet, facedown, lay a small, black-robed figure with flaming-red hair.

"Ginny!" Harry muttered, sprinting to her despite Leo's calls and dropping to his knees. "Ginny — don't be dead — please don't be dead —"

He flung his wand aside, grabbed Ginny's shoulders, and turned her over. Even as far away as Leo was, he could see her face looked as cold and white as marble, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't Petrified. But then she must be...

"Ginny, please wake up," Harry muttered desperately, shaking her as Leo approached the duo. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side.

"She won't wake," said a soft voice.

Harry jumped and spun around on his knees. Leo leveled his wand at the newcomer, eyes narrowed threateningly.

A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Leo were looking at him through a misted window. Leo had no idea who he was, but he felt oddly familiar for some reason.

"Tom — Tom Riddle?" Harry said.

Riddle nodded and Leo tightened his grip on his wand, prepared to strike in case he made any sudden moves toward himself and Harry.

"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Harry said desperately. "She's not — she's not —?"

"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just."

Leo's eyes shifted from the blurred Riddle to Ginny's eerily still form and back. _How is Riddle here? He's supposed to be in the book. _He frowned. _Unless..._

"You're doing this, aren't you?" he growled. "Taking her life-force to feed yours. That's how you're here."

"I always felt you were too clever for your own good, Black," Riddle sneered, taking out a wand. Harry's wand.

"Listen," said Harry urgently, unsure of what was going on anymore. "We've got to go! If the basilisk comes —"

"It won't come until it is called," said Riddle calmly.

"What d'you mean?" Harry said. "Look, give me my wand, I might need it —"

"It won't come until Riddle calls it, Harry," Leo informed the boy. "He's the Heir of Slytherin."

Riddle slowly clapped his hands.

"Well done, Black," Riddle stated in a bored tone. "However did you figure it out?"

"It wasn't that hard once I stopped wallowing in self-pity and put the pieces together," Leo smirked, striding forward to stand between the teen and his friends. "A magical diary containing the memory of a boy who was around when the Chamber of Secrets was opened just so happens to appear when the Chamber opens again? It was too much of a coincidence. I wasn't sure if you were the one doing it this time around or if you were just giving instructions. Either way, I knew you were bad news from the moment you tried to frame Hagrid. The only thing I'm trying to work out is how you're doing this to Ginny."

"Well, that's an interesting story," said Riddle pleasantly. "I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."

"What are you talking about?" said Harry.

"The diary," said Riddle. "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes — how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how —" Riddle's eyes glinted "— how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her..."

All the time he spoke, Riddle's eyes never left Harry's face. There was an almost hungry look in them. Leo was a bit perturbed by this.

"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom...I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in...It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket..."

Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. Leo had a vivid memory of a blonde woman and a redheaded woman standing in front of him and Harry. A flash of green appeared followed by the same laugh Riddle just gave. The blonde tightened his grip on his wand a bit nervously now.

"If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted...I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her..."

"What d'you mean?" said Harry, whose mouth had gone very dry.

"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" said Riddle softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."

"You possessed her," Leo surmised, his expression darkening.

"Yes," said Riddle, calmly. "Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries...far more interesting, they became...Dear Tom," he recited, watching Harry's horrified face and Leo's angry one, "'I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me...There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad...I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!'"

"But she eventually wised up. She tried to flush the diary away," Leo guessed.

"Yes, and that's where you came in, Harry," Riddle informed them, focusing primarily on Harry now. "You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet..."

"And why did you want to meet me?" said Harry.

"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry," said Riddle. "Your whole fascinating history." His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Harry's forehead, and their expression grew hungrier. "I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust —"

"Hagrid was our friend, you giant sack of shit!" Leo snarled, stepping forward a pace. "And you framed him. Got him kicked out of school -"

Riddle laughed his high laugh again.

"It was my word against Hagrid's. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student...on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls...but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance...as though Hagrid had the brains or the power!

"Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as a gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed...Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did..."

"Can't really blame him. You don't exactly have what one would call a 'winning personality'," Leo informed him.

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," said Harry, his teeth gritted.

"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," said Riddle carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished it," said Harry triumphantly. "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours, the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be all right again —"

"Haven't I already told you," said Riddle quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been — you. You, and your annoying, nuisance of a cousin."

"Coming from a git like you, that's a compliment," Leo remarked in a very dry tone.

"Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling roosters? So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery — particularly if one of your best friends was attacked. And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue...

"So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her...She put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last...I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for the two of you."

"Like what?" Harry spat.

"Well," said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, "how is it that you — a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent — managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now, and Leo's earlier suspicions were confirmed.

"Guess old Moldywarts wasn't as tough as he thought he was. He did get sent packing by an eleven-year-old. Twice," Leo replied, managing a smirk when Riddle glared at him.

"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry slowly. "Voldemort was after your time..."

"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter..."

He pulled Harry's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

"... That's a bit much," Leo admitted.

"You see?" he whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Harry — I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

"Bullshit!" Leo snapped angrily.

"You're not the greatest sorcerer in the world," said Harry, breathing fast. "Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over at Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days —"

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" he hissed.

"He's not as gone as you might think!" Harry retorted, and now even Leo was confused.

Riddle opened his mouth but froze.

Music was coming from somewhere. Riddle whirled around to stare down the empty Chamber. The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly; it lifted the hair on Leo's scalp and made his heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its normal size. Then, as the music reached such a pitch that Leo felt it vibrating inside his own ribs, flames erupted at the top of the nearest pillar.

A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, piping its weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's and gleaming golden talons, which were gripping a ragged bundle.

A second later, the bird was flying straight at Harry. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at his feet, then landed heavily on his shoulder. As it folded its great wings, Leo briefly glanced back at it and saw it had a long, sharp golden beak and a beady black eye.

"That's a phoenix," said Riddle, staring shrewdly back at it.

"No shit, Sherlock," Leo rolled his eyes, despite not knowing what it was beforehand.

"Fawkes?" Harry whispered behind him.

"And that —" said Riddle, now eyeing the ragged thing that Fawkes had dropped, "that's the old school Sorting Hat —"

So it was. Patched, frayed, and dirty, the hat lay motionless at Harry's feet.

Riddle began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that the dark chamber rang with it, as though ten Riddles were laughing at once.

"This is what Dumbledore sends his defenders! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter and Leo Black? Do you feel safe now?"

"In order: yes, and safety is overrated," Leo replied dryly, feeling as though they were about to reach a climactic moment. "Much like you."

Riddle looked angry.

"I was going to give you more time to live – a chance to answer pressing questions I had – but I now realize that -"

"_Depulso_!" Leo shouted, blasting Riddle, who was not expecting the sudden attack, backward. "I don't have the patience or attention span for villainous monologues. Can we just get on with it so I can kick your arse?"

Riddle looked beyond furious as he rose to his feet and began to walk forward, only to stop between the high pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, high above him in the half-darkness. Riddle opened his mouth wide and hissed.

Leo raised an eyebrow and looked up. Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. With a grim expression on his face, Leo saw his mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole. And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from its depths.

Leo's eyes immediately darted to Riddle's feet, keeping them there as something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber. Leo felt it shudder — he knew what was happening, he could sense it, could almost see the giant serpent uncoiling itself from Slytherin's mouth. Then he heard Riddle's hissing voice.

The basilisk was moving toward Harry; Leo could hear its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Much as he wanted to run after his cousin, he knew his battle was here. With Voldemort. He raised his eyes, meeting Riddle's brown with his blue-grey.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you, Black," Riddle hissed, walking around Leo in a half-circle.

"You've already tried that several times, never seems to pan out," Leo informed him. "Perhaps you should consider a new hobby? Like macramé or horseback riding -"

"_Crucio_!"

Leo dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the red spell as he rolled to his feet, pointing his own wand and shouting, "_Diffindo_!"

Riddle raised Harry's wand, conjuring a shield that the spell passed harmlessly over. He then struck out with a spell of his own, and a jet of green light passed over the boy's head as he rolled to the side to avoid it. Riddle fired off a barrage of the green spells, prompting Leo to run, duck, and roll all around to avoid them. He was starting to get tired and worried that Riddle would be able to finish him off soon. Luckily, something else seemed to distract him.

"NO!" he screamed, looking behind Leo. "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU. YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM. KILL HIM!"

Leo glanced back briefly at the snake and saw that its eyes, both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been punctured by the phoenix; blood was streaming to the floor, and the snake was spitting in agony. Leo bit his lip, glancing between Riddle and the snake before coming to a decision.

"_Mucus ad Nauseam Tria_!" Leo shouted, pointing his wand at the snake.

Great giant bogeys streamed from the snake's nose as it hissed and thrashed in pain. Leo soon followed it as Riddle managed to hit him with the Cruciatus Curse, sending him screaming to the ground as his body writhed. He felt warmth and feathers fly by him and the sound of Riddle yelling angrily. The spell lifted.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Leo rose shakily to his feet, pointing his wand at Riddle – who was trying to fend off Fawkes – and shouted, "_Expelliarmus_!"

The wand flew from Riddle's hand and Leo caught it deftly with his left hand before leveling both wands at the now defenseless Riddle. Riddle looked infuriated as Fawkes flew away from him, his eyes gleaming red as they locked onto Leo, who gave a tired yet triumphant smile.

"Looks like I'm three for three, Tommy boy," Leo panted. "Really should have considered an alternate hobby."

"Posture all you want, Black," Riddle snarled. "We both know you haven't got it in you to finish the job."

Leo's wands lowered slightly as the memory of Quirrell flashed through his mind. A moment later, his grip tightened as he raised his chin in determination.

"That's where you're wrong. I do have it in me – everyone has it in them. You, most certainly, have it in you," he shuffled forward slightly. "The difference between you and me is that I only do it when it's absolutely necessary – when there's no other way to protect the people I love. Looking at you now... you're defenseless. There's nothing you can do to hurt Harry now. It's over for you."

Riddle's angry gaze slid past him before his expression turned triumphant.

"You may have won, Leo Black. But Harry Potter has not," Riddle sneered, prompting Leo to whip his head around.

Harry was sitting against the wall of the Chamber, his right arm bloody and the basilisk's unmoving body rested nearby, a sword protruding from its mouth. The basilisk's fang lay beside Harry, and Fawkes stood leaning over the boy's arm.

"You're dead, Harry Potter," Riddle called out to him with a laugh. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying.

"So ends the famous Harry Potter. Defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry...She bought you twelve years of borrowed time...but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must..."

"_Depulso_," Leo snarled, launching the man backward and into the wall before scrambling over to Harry.

He sat next to the boy, gripping his uninjured arm as he observed Fawkes with growing nervousness. To his immense surprise, the wound was slowly disappearing until it vanished altogether. Harry and Leo exchanged a look of wonder.

"Phoenix tears..." said Harry quietly, staring at his arm. "Of course...healing powers...I forgot..."

Fawkes flew away, only to appear moments later, dropping Riddle's diary in his lap. Leo and Harry stared at it for a moment before Harry suddenly reached beside him, grabbing the basilisk fang and stabbing the book with it.

There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry and Leo's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then —

He had gone. Silence fell over the Chamber except for the steady drip-drip of ink still oozing from the diary. The basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right through it.

Leo hauled Harry to his feet before pulling him into a tight hug and handing him his wand. He walked over to the snake, ripping the sword from its mouth and admiring it for a moment. _I should invest in one of these. Wand in one hand, sword in the other – I'd be a real terror the next time I have to fight Moldyshorts or one of his deluded lackeys._

Then came a faint moan from the end of the Chamber. Ginny was stirring. As Leo and Harry hurried toward her, she sat up. Her bemused eyes traveled from the huge form of the dead basilisk to Leo, grimy and sweaty, and then over Harry, in his blood-soaked robes, before finally coming to rest on the diary in his hand. She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears began to pour down her face.

"Harry — oh, Harry — I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy — it was me, Harry — but I — I s-swear I d-didn't mean to — R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over — and — how did you kill that — that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary —"

Leo felt mildly affronted that his name wasn't even mentioned once. Then again, Ginny did fancy Harry, so he didn't think he should feel too surprised.

"It's all right," said Harry, holding up the diary, and showing Ginny the fang hole, "Riddle's finished. Look! Him and the basilisk. C'mon, Ginny, let's get out of here —"

"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept as Leo and Harry helped her awkwardly to her feet. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and — w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"

"I think you'll get a pass, given you were possessed by Voldemort and all," Leo informed her, rolling his eyes when she gave a great shudder at the name.

Fawkes was waiting for them, hovering in the Chamber entrance. Leo took the lead as Harry took the back, urging Ginny forward; they stepped over the motionless coils of the dead basilisk, through the echoing gloom, and back into the tunnel. Leo heard the stone doors close behind them with a soft hiss.

After a few minutes' progress up the dark tunnel, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached Leo's ears.

"Ron!" Harry yelled, speeding up to walk beside Leo. "Ginny's okay! We've got her!"

He heard Ron give a strangled cheer, and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the sizable gap he had managed to make in the rockfall.

"Ginny!" Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened? How — what — where did that bird come from?"

Fawkes had swooped through the gap after Ginny.

"He's Dumbledore's," said Harry, squeezing through himself.

"How come you've got a sword?" said Ron, gaping at the glittering weapon in Leo's hand as he climbed through.

"Why don't you have a sword?" Leo raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"I'll explain when we get out of here," said Harry with a sideways glance at Ginny, who was crying harder than ever.

"But —"

"Later," Harry said shortly. "Where's Lockhart?"

"Back there," said Ron, still looking puzzled but jerking his head up the tunnel toward the pipe. "He's still out cold. Thought it would be best if I moved him in case the tunnel caved in."

Led by Fawkes, whose wide scarlet wings emitted a soft golden glow in the darkness, they walked all the way back to the mouth of the pipe. Gilderoy Lockhart was laying there, a rather large gash on his head as he breathed slowly. Leo couldn't help but be impressed by his own handiwork.

Harry bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe.

"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" he said to Ron.

Ron shook his head, but Fawkes the phoenix had swooped past Harry and was now fluttering in front of him, his beady eyes bright in the dark. He was waving his long golden tail feathers. Harry looked uncertainly at him.

"He looks like he wants you to grab hold..." said Ron, looking perplexed. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there —"

"Fawkes," said Harry, "isn't an ordinary bird." He turned quickly to the others. "We've got to hold on to each other. Ginny, grab Ron's hand. Leo, grab Ginny's hand and Lockhart's -"

"Do I have to?" Leo grumbled, not really wanting to.

"You knocked him out, you carry him."

Leo opened his mouth to argue before shrugging, grabbing Lockhart and Ginny, and saying, "Yeah, that's fair."

An extraordinary lightness seemed to spread through his whole body and the next second, in a rush of wings, they were flying upward through the pipe. The chill air was whipping through Leo's hair, and before he'd stopped enjoying the ride, it was over — all five of them were hitting the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and, as Leo shoved Lockhart away from him, the sink that hid the pipe was sliding back into place.

Myrtle goggled at them.

"You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.

"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he said grimly, wiping flecks of blood and slime off his glasses.

"I'm disappointed that Lockhart made it out alright," Leo grumbled as he rose to his feet.

"You knocked him out cold!" Harry exclaimed in an amused sort of tone.

"Yeah, I was hoping that he'd get eaten by a snake. When that didn't happen, I had to improvise," Leo shrugged, grinning widely. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Harry and Ron snorted with laughter.

"Where now?" said Ron, with an anxious look at Ginny. Harry pointed.

Fawkes was leading the way, glowing gold along the corridor. They strode after him – Leo using the Levitation Charm to float Lockhart in front of them - and moments later, found themselves outside McGonagall's office.

Harry knocked and pushed the door open.

* * *

**Q & A:**

**AveRomani: I really like Leo. Is he perhaps related to or based off of one Mr. Valdez?**

**-**_No, he's not. To be honest, I didn't even think of Leo Valdez when I first started writing these books. I picked 'Leo' as his name for multiple reasons. Firstly, he is a Leo, so it sort of made sense. Secondly, I think his father would have enjoyed rubbing a little salt in the wound by naming his child after the mascot of his parents' rival house. Lastly... 'Leo' just sort of fit with everything. His personality, his House, the person he becomes. The more I write about him, the more perfect and suiting his name becomes. I remember trying to come up with a name for him - even looked up stars and constellations for inspiration - and just randomly thought of 'Leo'. Now, I can't imagine him having any other name. Sorry if I rambled a bit, just wanted to give the best explanation I could and give a little backstory on how his name came about._


	17. Chapter 17: It All Comes Together

**Chapter 17: It All Comes Together**

_End of school and back to home. Reggie will be attending next year and we'll be allowed to visit Hogsmeade. It should be interesting._

* * *

For a moment there was silence as Harry, Ron, Ginny, Leo, and a floating Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in Harry's case) blood. Then there was a scream.

"Ginny!"

It was Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting crying in front of the fire. She leaped to her feet, closely followed by Mr. Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on their daughter.

Leo, however, was looking past them. Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming, next to McGonagall, who was taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest. She moved quickly and, a second later, Leo found himself wrapped in a tight hug. Both Ron's and Harry's expressions mimicked his surprise.

"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?" Mrs. Weasley cried, wrapping Harry and Ron into a tight embrace.

"I think we'd all like to know that," said McGonagall weakly as she released a bewildered Leo Black.

Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry, who hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the desk and laid upon it the Sorting Hat and what remained of Riddle's diary. He then turned to Leo, raising an eyebrow at the boy who scowled, dropped Lockhart unceremoniously to the floor, and walked over to the desk, setting the sword upon it.

Then Harry started telling them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour, he spoke into the rapt silence: He told them about hearing the disembodied voice, how Hermione had finally realized that he was hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how he, Leo, and Ron had followed the spiders into the forest, that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how he had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom...

Leo had to bite his tongue to keep from saying 'I told you so' over and over again.

"Very well," McGonagall prompted him as he paused, "so you found out where the entrance was — breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add — but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potter?"

Leo, spotting Harry's exhausted look, took over the story. He told them about the conversation with Riddle and the subsequent duel that followed. He hesitated for a moment before telling them about the Cruciatus Curse, prompting Mrs. Weasley to rush over and hug him, sobbing loudly. From there, Harry told his side. He told them about Fawkes' timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving him the sword. But then he faltered. He looked at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon spectacles.

"What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."

"That's a rather odd place to be," Leo remarked over Mrs. Weasley's shoulder, not having a clue where Albania was but assuming it was somewhere exotic.

"W-what's that?" said Mr. Weasley in a stunned voice as Mrs. Weasley finally released Leo. "You-Know-Who? En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny's not...Ginny hasn't been...has she?"

"It was this diary," said Harry quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen..."

Dumbledore took the diary from Harry and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.

"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned around to the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.

"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school...traveled far and wide...sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

"I'll say," Leo said, frowning slightly. "Last year he looked like some sort of child of a diseased snake that had a baby with an old guy. No offense, sir."

"None taken, Mr. Black," Dumbledore replied, smiling genially.

"But, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley. "What's our Ginny got to do with — with — him?"

"His d-diary" Ginny sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year —"

"Ginny!" said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything. What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain? Why didn't you show the diary to me or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic!'"

Leo was heartily inclined to agree. Briefly, the Marauder's Map came to mind before he shook his head dismissively. If someone as good and kind-hearted as Remy had helped create the Map, there was no way it was Dark.

"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it —"

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He strode over to the door and opened it. "Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he added, twinkling kindly down at her. "You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice — I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

"So Hermione's okay!" said Ron brightly.

"There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny," said Dumbledore.

Mrs. Weasley led Ginny out, and Mr. Weasley followed, still looking deeply shaken.

"You know, Minerva," Dumbledore said thoughtfully to McGonagall, "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"

"Right," said McGonagall crisply, also moving to the door. "I'll leave you to deal with Black, Potter, and Weasley, shall I?"

"Certainly," said Dumbledore.

She left.

"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore, eyeing Harry and Ron.

Leo raised an eyebrow as Ron opened his mouth in horror.

"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling. "All three of you shall receive Special Awards for Services to the School and — let me see — yes, I think two hundred points each for Gryffindor."

Leo grinned widely. An award with his name on it? That was a better reward than anything he could've ever come up with.

"Though, I do find myself curious as to what happened to Professor Lockhart," Dumbledore continued, looking at the man before his gaze settled on Leo. "Care to explain, Mr. Black?"

"Lockhart tried to use a Memory Charm on us, so I retaliated with a Banishing Charm. When he hit the tunnel wall, it caused a cave-in, and he must have somehow hit his head. He's been out ever since," Leo paused, frowning. "I'm not apologizing for that, by the way."

Dumbledore gave a hearty chuckle.

"I was not expecting one, my dear boy," Dumbledore smiled genially. "I must, however, request that you take some responsibility for your actions and escort Professor Lockhart to the infirmary."

Leo grumbled in response before levitating Lockhart out of the room, down the corridor, and up the steps toward the hospital wing. He was just dropping Lockhart into a bed when Madam Pomfrey strode out of her office and immediately began fussing over him. She gave him a green vial of Wiggenweld Potion, watching him sternly as he drank it down, grimacing all the while.

When she tried to get him to stay for observation, Leo bolted out of the room and headed for the Great Hall. As he threw open the door, he blinked at all the people staring at him. Unsurprising, given he was still covered in dirt and grime and looked as though he had gone twelve rounds with a garbage monster.

"If people don't start cheering," Leo began, putting his hands on his hips. "This is going to get very awkward very fast."

There was a smattering of chuckles from those who remembered Leo's Sorting the previous year before loud applause broke out. Leo gave several flourishing bows before taking his seat at the Gryffindor table beside Lee Jordan. The other Weasleys were strangely absent and were most likely spending time with their sister.

Not long after, the Weasleys reappeared, each of them enveloping Leo in a hug or – in Percy and Ron's case – giving him a hearty handshake. A few minutes later, Harry appeared, informing Leo that Lucius Malfoy had given the diary to Ginny and that Dobby had been his house-elf – up until the point Harry had freed him. Leo snorted with laughter at the tale before his gaze settled on Draco, not looking forward to telling him that his father had reached a whole new level on the Git Meter.

Leo had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas, and the celebration lasted all night. Leo didn't know whether the best bit was Hermione running toward him and Harry, screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring Harry's hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting him, or Hagrid turning up at half-past three, cuffing Leo, Harry, and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or his, Harry's, and Ron's six hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year running, or McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat ("Oh, no!" said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he was in some sort of coma. Quite a few of the teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news. Leo had never felt more appreciated in all his life.

The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences — Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled ("but we've had plenty of practice at that anyway," Ron told a disgruntled Hermione) and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Draco was upset when Leo informed him about his father's actions and wasn't looking forward to returning home to a man who had tried to murder people in a school full of children. Leo patted his shoulder and told him to send a letter in case he needed rescuing.

Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Leo Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny got a compartment to themselves. They made the most of the last few hours in which they were allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last of Fred and George's Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming each other by magic.

Halfway through the journey, Draco appeared, looking distinctly awkward. Everyone stared at him for a moment before Harry scooted over, allowing Draco to sit and talk amongst them. The tension quickly faded after that as they resumed their laughter and jokes.

They were almost at King's Cross when Harry remembered something.

"Ginny – what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"

"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well — Percy's got a girlfriend."

Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head while Leo gaped at her. He had been joking about that.

"What?"

"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was — you know — attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.

Leo roared with laughter.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.

"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.

The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped. As they disembarked and walked onto the platform, Leo said his goodbyes to his friends before making the trek over to Grimmauld Place. It took twenty minutes for him to arrive at the familiar, dilapidated house and stroll inside. He was about to call out to Kreacher when he heard voices coming from the basement. He flicked his wand out.

"Who's there?"

The voices stopped before the sound of footsteps running up the stairs rapidly approached him. As a figure appeared, Leo lowered his wand.

"Moony? What're you doing here? How did you even get in?" Leo asked incredulously.

"I was invited in by an old friend," Remus grinned, stepping to the side and revealing yet another familiar person behind him.

"Uncle Siri?!"

There stood Sirius Black, covered in dirt and grime and looking especially tired and worn out. Nonetheless, he was wearing a broad smile before he held out his arms.

"What? No hug for your favorite uncle?"

"Well, I would, but -"

"I smell funny?" Sirius suggested with a wry smile.

"I was going to say you're a criminal, but that works too," Leo grinned broadly as Sirius let out a bark-like laugh.

The next second, Leo dove forward, enveloping Sirius in the tightest hug he had ever experienced. It took Sirius a moment to respond but, when he did, he hugged him just as tightly, as though afraid Leo would disappear if he released him.

_It's good to be home._

* * *

**_A/N_**

**_And so ends book two. Join me next week for book three: Wolfbite._**


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